All roads lead to Mkhaliphi Stadium in KwaZulu-Natal to celebrate the victory of Mthandeni “SK” Manqele, who was declared the winner of the Song of the Year competition on Ukhozi FM on December 31.
Since Manqele’s song shot to the top of the charts right away, his victory was predicted. His song Gucci received over 900 000 votes.
The event, Mthandeni Summer Experience, will take place in his hometown of Emdletsheni, which is located north of KwaZulu-Natal, on January 4.
The event is anticipated to draw a sizable audience and features a long list of well-known performers.
Voting process transparent
DJ Tira, MaWhoo, Thina Zungu, and Nomcebo Zikode are among the artists scheduled to perform at this event.
Tickets for the event are available at TicketPro and range in price from R100 to R500 (VIP).
Speaking to Sunday World on Thursday, Manqele said: “I’m deeply humbled by this win, and I’d like to thank my supporters for voting for me; without them, I wouldn’t be here.”
He claimed that because the SABC was open during the voting process and provided weekly statistics, he was certain he would win the Song of the Year competition.
“I won fairly; people loved my song, and they voted for it. I also know that they voted for a nice song and not for me as an individual. So, all in all, I deserved to win.”
Event launched in December
Speaking about the upcoming event, Manqele shared: “This event was planned long before the festive season and competition.
“I launched it on December 9 at One Restaurant & Lounge in Durban. But it’s happening in my hometown, eMdletsheni, on Saturday.
“The purpose of this event is to celebrate my success in the industry but, most importantly, to build social cohesion.”
He explained further: “Even if I didn’t win [the Song of the Year competition], I was still going to do it. But now that I won, I’ve got more reasons to do it.
“As artists, we always do events away from home, which I believe is unfair. We need to do more for our communities in the rural areas; however, this is not always possible due to a lack of resources and hectic schedules.”
