Magwaza generally works in mthombothi wood, which he gets from the Nkwaleni Valley, but sometimes sculpts in soapstone which he transports from the Tugela valley, one of the few areas where it is available. Transporting soapstone is a heavy and expensive undertaking, but he is a determined and dedicated artist who is not easily deterred.

An example of Magwaza's determination occurred on Christmas Eve in 1979, when he arrived at the Art Centre with what I can only describe as a '10 ton' soapstone sculpture. It was on the back of a bakkie, with a home made block and tackle. The City Police had to be called to cordon off the area in Gardiner Street, and an understanding shipping company provided a fork lift and driver to move it from the street into a fortuitously empty shop in Guildhall Arcade.

'The sculpture was titled Lovers in Distress, and was not tall but measured about two metres square at the base. It was kept on display in the empty shop for a few months while efforts were made to interest buyers. It was bought by the Port Natal Administration Board for its new headquarters in Mayville, Durban.

Magwaza had a productive year in 1977. An exhibition of sculpture was arranged by the African Art Centre at the 7th Haven Restaurant at the Durban Docks. It was one of the Art Centre's efforts to take the work of black artists to a wider public. Sixteen pieces in mthombothi wood and a few in soapstone showed well in an area around a fountain outside the restaurant.

The works were appealing and much appreciated by diners, resulting in good sales for the artist. Among the titles were Dancing Queen, Prodigal Son. St Christopher, Lonely Qirt and Boys Playing. The only title which appeared to have any political connotation was Love and Peace in the Country.

Later in the year an exhibition of 21 sculptures was held at the African Art Centre, and again titles indicate an artist fairly at peace with the world, however modest his rural life style. Andrew Verster reviewed the exhibition in the Daily News on March 24.1977, and wrote:

"The works are strong, direct and easily communicate his feelings. His subjects are people, either alone or in groups. The chunky forms and the often static attitudes give them a monumentality even on a small scale.

"Probably because he has not been exposed to many Influences, but primarily I would Imagine because he has such clear personal vision, he does not ever lapse into the easygoing cliches which rob so much black art of its validity and strength - a disease which it seems Is endemic. Instead the style is recognisable as African with its stress on the conceptual and avoidance of the naturalistic.

"Each form in the complex whole in the schematic statement is seen in purely sculptural terms. Scale proportion and detail are all manipulated In order to stress feelings...I suspect that Magwaza regards his larger wood carvings as more important than the smaller soapstone works, yet it is in these that his real personality emerges most strongly...

"I hope that Magwaza will have the strength of character to avoid the multitude of pitfalls the world of art strews in the path of the unwary, and manages instead to pursue his vision of single-minded dedication."

I believe Verster's hope has been realised to a very great extent. In 1981, Magwaza won second prize in the Anglo American sponsored National Outdoor Sculpture Competition for his six foot high soapstone sculpture titled The Family. This work is permanently on display in the Durban Botanic Gardens. Shortly afterwards he was awarded an Anglo American travel grant to Paris.

Magwaza spent six weeks in Paris. Although this was no doubt beneficial in the longer term, his stay had an unsettling affect on him. Having seen the work of sculptors of Europe such as Rodin he seemed to lose confidence in his own ability. He even went to the extent of destroying some of his works and in some cases burying them. Fortunately, he later resurrected some of them and began bringing some fine work to the Art Centre again.

I consider one he brought in 1990 as one of his finest sculptures. Titled Image and sculpted in mthombothi wood, it is nearly a meter high. It depicts a young man in kneeling position holding a book, his arms in chains. Magwaza put a very high price on it, I suspect because he did not really want to part with it. But someone was prepared to pay. Magwaza is deeply involved with his sculptures and he does not happily part with them.

He held a very successful exhibition at the Art Centre in 1991 and nearly all his sculpture in wood was sold, some to galleries and others to private buyers. It was, however, not very well reviewed by Dan Cook, critic for the Sunday Tribune, who commented:

"His sculpture ranges from Modernist welded metal abstracts (Flight Planes) through the naturallstically modelled cement (Torso) to expressionlstic (Pipe Smoker)."

Magwaza had begun experimenting in cement and metal sculpture. Changing from one medium to another is not easy for artists who are not able to obtain the training required. Despite the critical review, his work continues to be highly respected and is now in several collections, including the Durban Art Gallery, the Eshowe Museum, and the Natal Provincial Museums Services Gallery.

Image by Raphael Magwaza 1990