Years before his return to Thrashers in 2025, Rodrigues found something new in Cape Town that gave him unknown places to skate and more people to skate with.
After moving to Cape Town from Pretoria in 2017, he started at The Shred in Paarden Eiland. A skatepark was later built at his school in Kommetjie, where he spent years skating with his mentor and pro skater Thalente Biyela.
Rodrigues describes the school owner as being “hyped on skateboarding and super supportive”. It was an environment for him to thrive in, and with that he took the opportunities.
“Cape Town’s scene is on another level. There are more skate parks, plus skate shop teams, film crews, and sponsors,” Rodrigues told IOL.
In 2021, Rodrigues joined the team at Baseline Skate Shop, on Kloof Street near the top of Long Street.
“I got on the Baseline Skate Shop TEAM in 2021; my skating improved, and I was skating with all the rippers,” Rodrigues said.
In 1998, Jonathan Muir founded Baseline, an independent skate shop that services Cape Town skaters.
Across South Africa, organisers continue to make room for skaters to compete. Rodrigues won the Kimberley Diamond Cup’s 16-and-under final in 2022 and rates Kimberley’s park among the best in the country.
“Shout out to the people running comps and events in South Africa, to the Kimberley organisers. They’re really passionate, and they’re the ones keeping the scene going,” Rodrigues said.
Having had to grind day in and day out, he paid for his first few qualifiers, but with support from Monster Energy and Vans now, it has become possible for the 19-year-old to reach Los Angeles, United States.
At Street Lines in September 2026, Rodrigues placed 13th in the men’s division. He then won the separate Best Trick contest with a frontside bluntslide kickflip out to fakie on the double-set rail.
In his first international professional contest practice session, Rodrigues found himself “in a heat with Jamie Foy”. What struck him immediately was “the speed at which they do their tricks”.
At 18, Rodrigues has recently begun travelling to competitions without a guardian, taking on the journey himself. Qualifying to represent South Africa in Los Angeles would be, he says, “the biggest achievement of my life”.
And should he make it to LA28 to represent South Africa at the Olympics, his answer to who he’d call first is simple and straightforward: “My mom.”
Politically Aweh will film Poll Dancing at Cape Town’s Homecoming Centre on October 21. The live comedy special will use sketches, interviews, and campaign reporting to help audiences make sense of the upcoming November 4 local government elections. For two hours, a group of comedians will entertain the crowd with what could look like a cabinet sitting in Parliament, just down the road from the venue where it is performed.Host […]
