Lebohang Mokoena was a young woman from the south of Joburg. Raised by her mother Patricia Mokoena in their tiny home. Lebo made money, by painting portraits and managed to support herself,but she was not making enough since she was not always getting paying clients who truly appreciated her work.
When she was still a teenager she had a yearning to find the whereabouts of her father,Chris Deeber.
"I had a dream about my father" she said one day.
"What kind of a dream?" Her mother Patricia asked.
Lebo sat up straight in her chair, putting away her bowl of cereal.
"I was told that my father is in the Hex river mountain.i searched on the place. It's in Montagu, Capetown." Patricia paused for a while.
"Then I think you should go. You are a grown woman now. You don't need my permission. And you know that dreams are prophetic. " She said.
Chris had abandoned them when Lebo was still only six months old.
"Mother please at least show me his picture's I need to know him." Lebo pleaded.
"They all burnt! Okay!" Patricia answered. Wiping her tears away.
All the family pictures showing Chris had been destroyed in the fire when Lebo was still a baby. Lebo decided to travel to Montagu, Capetown to find her father.
"If Chris gives you trouble, you call me and I will be there!" Patricia said,waving her daughter goodbye. She even packed two food containers, one with slices of bohobe and the other with tender cooked tripe,to make sure that her daughter would not get hungry along the way.
There were more things that made Lebo want to leave Joburg. A year before she began doing her portraits,she was attacked and raped by a gang of men.
She had never told anyone the secret, she felt ashamed. Her innocence had been stolen from her. She found it hard to date anyone since then, she dumped the person she used to love and used art as a way of escaping from the horrible memories that haunted her mind.
Lebo was intrigued by the mist covering the top of the mountains when she was entering Montagu. She thought the place was magical.
Lebo found a cheap apartment to rent, luckily for her it was secure and had clean running water. "How did you sleep?" Asked the landlord.
"good." Lebo replied afraid of telling the truth as she feared being removed from the premises. The small town had friendly locals.
The men and women greeted Lebo with a smile as a way of being polite.
Falling asleep on the first night was difficult but that changed when days went by,she adjusted to the environment. In the morning Lebo would go out to take pictures of the tall standing trees and watch the birdd flying by across the blue sky. It helped her gain more inspiration for her artwork. That is how she was able to pay her rent. But she also needed to find her father. He was the main reason for her journey to Montagu.
