Dance Programme Manager · Breaking Lead
The man who pioneered a movement.
Ramone De Wet — Bboy RAM1 — is one of the architects of South African breaking. As a founding member and lead dancer of Prophets of Da City (POC), South Africa's most pioneering hip-hop crew, he was on the frontline of a cultural movement that predated the country's democracy. POC performed at clubs, on television, and at international stages during the apartheid era — and in 1994, stood on the stage at Nelson Mandela's presidential inauguration. RAM1 was the dancer. He was there.
What set RAM1 apart was not just what he could do — it was what he invented. He is widely recognised as the pioneer who fused traditional Khoi-San movement with breaking foundation, creating a distinctly South African vocabulary inside a global hip-hop form. That work shaped a generation of Cape Flats bboys.
"The lineage runs from RAM1 to Meaty, and from Meaty to the next generation."
His focus today is exactly where Hope Horizon's is: unearthing talent from communities that get overlooked when opportunities arise. Rural areas. Young people without connections. Young people who are already extraordinary, but have never been seen. RAM1 has spent a career proving that those people exist. He is now at Hope Horizon to build the pathway that finds them — and develops them.
