Richard van Der Westhuizen and Lochner de Kock will receive a lifetime achievement award for their music next month.

Long-time residents of Melville, Lochner and Richard are equally well-known as actors, but it is for their music partnership, which began 30 years ago, that they will receive the award at the Innibos Arts Festival in Nelspruit on July 2.

Richard first gained attention as a musician with his beautiful theme song for the TV series Ballade vir ‘n Enkeling, which, like another of his hits, Tussen Treine, remains a crowd pleaser. A familiar presence on television, Richard’s latest solo album Yster en Vuur is imminent. (For more information go to his website http://www.richardvanderwesthuizen.co.za)

Lochner de Kock is well-known as an actor, writer and voice artist and his song Die Kinders van Afrika is a favourite. Having taken the next step with his hobby as home cook, Lochner is now a respected chef, cooking demonstrator and author of a number of cookery books including the successful Cordonboer.

Richard and Lochner are pictured here near the beginning of their music partnership. Just ahead of Nelson Mandela’s historic release, but coinciding with the fall of the wall in Berlin, I made a music video of Richard’s hauntingly poignant Anthem. Follow the link to see the video on YouTube https://youtu.be/OZG_irOO_cs