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    Home / George’s Story

    George’s Story

     George

    George Magaso – Master Beadsmith.

    George has a mischievous twinkle in his eye and a jaunty step that belie the guise of a master craftsman. Not one to boast, he is aware that the quality of his work is better than most. He is a self-made man having learned his skill through his image038determined approach to life.

    George was born on the 15th of March 1969, in Harare, Zimbabwe. There he attended school as a child along with his seven siblings. George was 13 years old when he began to make and sell wire cars in order to be able to earn some money to buy some clothes for himself. He also made these cars for himself and as toys for his siblings which they played with after school every day.

    image039In 1992, at the age of 23, an unemployed George left Zimbabwe to come to South Africa. He noticed that quite a few of his fellow countrymen were venturing to South Africa to sell wire products, so this particular opportunity was a major influencing factor in his relocation. However, George found that selling his products in South Africa was not always easy. From time to time, he would produce his work and then find that he was not paid as much as he was initially promised. It was frustrating for him to put in such hard work and have nothing to show for it. George knew he had a talent in his chosen art form, thus he kept trying and refused to give up.

    George was married in 1995 to Memory who is also from Harare, Zimbabwe. The happy couple has four children together. Their eldest daughter is now 17 years old, and the twins (a boy and a girl) are now 12 years old. These three children currently reside in Zimbabwe under the care of George’s in-laws. Their youngest son of 7 years lives with them in the township called Joe Slovo, located in Milnerton, Cape Town.image040

    George is self-taught in the art form that he pursues on a daily basis. He started working with beads and wire in 2000 which was a progression from his previous work in wire alone. He strives continuously to improve his talent and learn new skills.

    He is also a team player in many ways, and so would help other craftsmen sell their products alongside his own during his stay in Johannesburg and Durban. Having found that he has a great talent for beadwork, he has pursued and perfected this talent right up until the present day.

    image041In 2010, George came to Cape Town after a friend invited him to come and work with him at a wirework company. The opportunity seemed attractive at first, but George eventually decided to go back to working on his own from home.

    As a family man, George prefers to work from home. This allows him to see his family more often, as traveling to various places takes up a lot of his time and energy out of his daily life. Staying at home, allows him to plan his own time schedule and may mean waking up at 3 am in the image042