Maluleke’s creativity is one which pays homage to his origins and personal experiences. This is evident in his choice of subject matter and medium. He paints images of sprawling rural landscapes onto traditional grass mats, which all speak of his origins. One might have expected Maluleke to have put behind him any reminders of his humble beginnings once he had reached the big city of Johannesburg, however, it is his rural upbringing, along with the sacrifice and support of his mother who raised him and his siblings, that is the ever-present focus of his work.

His home of Limpopo is referenced frequently, perhaps most recognizably in the landscapes of rolling hills and vast rural scenes he presents, but also far more subtly through his use of the grass mat as a sub-straight for his works. Here Maluleke uses the grass mat as a resting place for his creations. Mirroring the intended purpose of the mats as a traditional resting place and ushering them into an artistic context where they become replacements of the expected canvas and paper sub-straights.