KHULE is a one-of-a-kind character and is one of the most recogniseable faces in the Durban skate scene.
The Westville resident has been a professional skater from the tender age of 15 and now, at the age of 25, has been a professional for a decade.
He is sponsored by DC, Element and Monster Energy and has represented the brands well in his travels that take him from Los Angelos to Europe.
Khule’s roots in the extreme sport have humble beginings, from being the only kid exposed to skateboarding in Chesterville where he was raised.
He was an isolated figure in his family and his neighbourhood and embraced being an outcast and was forced to be mentally strong from an early age.
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Although Khule’s family did not endorse the idea of him skating, he still fondly remembers the time when he took up the sport and received his first skateboard from his grandfather.
“We walked from Chesterville to the Pavillion Shopping Centre and he bought me my first skateboard”, Khule remembers.
“I’ve had hundreds of boards but I still remember what that board looked like. The purchase of that R60 skateboard from ‘Toys R Us’ sparked a flame that’s still burning today. What also triggered my love for skateboarding was going to the Pavillion skate park, because I was just riding down a hill.”
Khule also recognizes how the skateboarding scene has stagnated in Durban with the closing of the parks he grew up skating at.
“The sad part about Durban is that there’s only the Beachfront Skate Park left, so the scene has gone downward”.
The generational talent that is Khule, is not only a world class skateboarder, but also a rapper.
Khule has always recognised rapping as the best way to express his hardships from a young age. He was also an avid basketball player in high school.
“The basketball thing was never going to last because of my height,” he joked.
The globe-trotting athlete always recognises his roots, and being the only skateboarder that Chesterville has produced, Khule started a community contest in Chesterville called, Back to the Roots, on Youth Day.
“I’m trying to give back to my people by bringing this multiracial world of skateboarding to the community. It’s also helps to stop the kids from getting involved in other negative things”.
Khule’s generousity doesn’t end there. He also has a skateboarding clinic at the Ballito Pro, coming up which will be sponsored by Monster Energy.
At 25 years old, Khule is seen as a veteran in the Durban skate scene, but on a global scale, he is at his peak.
Skateboarding could also becoming an Olympic sport which means the Highway area could soon boast another Olympic success story other than Chad Le Clos.
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