Cape Town - Landing ollies and kickflips off the CBD’s many railings and kerbs has become more than just a pastime for a homeless teenager.
“When I am feeling down or I want to run away from all of the bad stuff, I just pick up my skateboard and take it to the streets. Then I feel free,” said Peter Leguma, 18, who has been living on the city’s streets with his 47-year-old father, Dean Demas Theron.
The teenager first sought solace when his mother died from TB in December last year, adding to the weight of having no place to call home and being rejected by the rest of his immediate family.
Peter - who attended Aloe Secondary School in Lentegeur, Mitchells Plain - dropped out of Grade 9 to help his father take care of his 13-year-old brother when his aunt, who occupied his mother’s family home in Valhalla Park, refused them shelter.
He said his aunt saw them as “more mouths to feed”.
“My aunt and her husband wanted me to bring money if I wanted to eat. They said I must beg otherwise I would sleep with a hungry tummy. I do not like begging, I feel shy when I have to ask people for food or money, but I must.”
Desperate for food, he would steal train rides to Cape Town each day, searching for scraps in the dustbins near fast food outlets in the CBD.
“I would take my skateboard with me because I feel bad. What I like best about my skateboard is that it gives me something to look forward to. It gives me hope.”
His father - who had found work with a local street vendor for R20 a day - proudly proclaimed he was a rugby player himself.
“I played rugby in school so I do not know why he is skating. I do not like the sport; he always gets hurt and medical care is expensive,” Theron said.
A Cape Town based company - Ginkgo Agency - collects pre-owned skateboards to help homeless youth find “solace in skating”.
Through the Salesian Institute, the company provides youngsters with a constructive outlet for their energy.
The company’s spokesman Anthony Hinrichsen said: “We are looking for people to donate their old boards so that Peter, and others like him, can get the opportunity to do something greater with their lives. We have arranged with Picup to do free collections and deliveries for the next week. All the boards will go to the Salesian Institute Youth Projects.”
In an attempt to display his skateboarding skills for the Cape Argus, Peter’s board snapped in two while he was performing an impressive kickflip.
The Cape Argus decided to buy him a brand new fully setup deck.
“I am going to become a pro-skater today. This is the best gift anyone has ever blessed me with.”
Cape Argus