August Van Der Westhuizen, a 29 year old saxophonist from Cape Town’s notorious gang-ridden Cape Flats uses his music to try and uplift youth from impoverished communities. Tonight he held a solo concert at the Roxy Revue Bar in Cape Town’s Grandwest Casino.

The 29 year old who goes by the stage name August West, hails from the Leonsdale area. The impoverished suburb is plagued by social issues such drugs, gangsterism and gender-based violence. Leonsdale which forms part of the broader Elsies River area is well known for all types of crime and social ills.

Artists such as August have struggled to make a living during South Africa’s successive Covid 19 lockdown. The country is expected to go back to alert level four as numbers spike which would result in public events such as music concerts being prohibited under South Africa’s Coronavirus disaster management regulations.