In a tightly contested competition Zandile Thilela emerged victorious and was crowned the City’s Gospel Icon. She towered above other contestants in the soloist category. Abadumisi bevangeli was head and shoulders above the rest in the groups category. Thanks to the eThekwini Municipality for coming up with this much needed programme. This initiative is a gruelling exercise that begins by scouting for talent in all 110 wards of the city. Intense screening through ward-based talent search, then follows.
Each winner walked away with prizes to the value of R100 000 which includes a R35 000 recording deal. The cherry on top is that their music will be marketed and distributed by Sony International, a global music company.
A 14-year-old budding artist, Philasande Hlangulela took the winner spot in the Junior category and walked away with R10,000.
Thilela from Folweni South of Durban could not contain her excitement and thanked eThekwini Municipality for providing the platform to take her music career to new heights.
“It’s been a long journey of not giving up that has made me the winner. I am looking forward to the journey ahead to have my music on the platform that will be accessed by everyone in the country and internationally. I am grateful to the municipality for the opportunity that has been presented for me as a way out of poverty as i lost my parents and only depend on my grandmother,” said Thilela.
The runners up of the competition received prizes varying from R20,000 to R5 000.
The finale was a spectacular extravaganza of fantastic performances and high emotions.
This gospel scouting programme, GID is an initiative of the Municipality’s Parks, Recreation and Culture Unit (PRC).
Chairperson for the Community Service Committee, Cllr Ntokozo Sibiya congratulated the winners and said the competition does not only create memories, but also has a positive impact on society, by developing societies’ musical skills and assisting participants in reaching their aspirations.
“Youth empowerment through performing arts has many benefits for society and is therefore imperative. These benefits include the transfer of skills and work ethic as well as facilitating nation building and personal development. This is a clear demonstration that this city cares. It started with this government that the creative industry permanently features in our development agenda and there is no turning back” said Sibiya.
Gospel Icon Discovery created over 5000 local jobs. Direct Creative Industry Local Jobs estimated to 650 direct local jobs created. Through secondary impact, over R 33 million economic contribution to the city’s GDP as a result of hosting the GID competition.
The vision of Parks, Recreation and Culture Unit is to create a conducive environment and to support youth development initiatives in order to improve the socio-economic status of young people in the arts.
This year’s edition of GID will be broadcast on DSTV’s popular gospel channel “One Gospel” on channel 331 at a date to be announced.
