What started out as a celebratory song sung in class after passing a test, gave birth to a capella pop group Abantwana.
The group, which is made up of Zimi Manqoba, Fana Gudula, Nontlantla Mzola, Yonela Ngxuza Dube and Camagu Masiko, has captured the hearts of thousands of South Africans with their soulful sound.
Gudula, Mzola, Dube and Masiko are in grade 12 at a school in Plettenberg Bay, while Manqoba is a first-year student at Nelson Mandela University.
Abantwana’s beat boxer, Masiko, who hails from Alice, said the group would sing together in class and their classmates would cheer and at times record them.
“We like to sing and our favourite group is The Soil. We would often sing their songs and people would record us all the time.
“Someone uploaded one of our videos on Facebook and a lot of people were liking the video.”
Masiko said they had not expected their video to go viral.
“We were just happy that we were trending. Even the guys from The Soil shared it on their social media. The comments we were getting from people were encouraging and some were calling on producers to sign us.”This social media fame saw them receiving numerous calls from producers across the country wanting to work with them.
“We were very sceptical of some of the people who called us. We didn’t want to jump into anything because there are a lot of fraudsters out there. We couldn’t just trust anyone with our talent,” he said.
The group in the end signed a recording deal with Mbokodo Productions which saw them release their debut single Intonga Yakho.
The video of the song has received more than a million views on YouTube and they also received two nominations at this year’s Independent National Gospel Music Awards (Ingomas).
Abantwana have been nominated in the song of the year and best gospel single categories.
Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on August 25.
“We were surprised to learn that we’ve been nominated for the Ingomas,” Masiko said.
“It was really unexpected but it shows that people love us and they have embraced our music. We still can’t believe it, it’s all so overwhelming.”
Masiko said they would be releasing their debut album later in the year.
“We’ve finalised recording the album and it has been a journey of learning for all of us. We can not wait for people to hear the music,” he said.
For more information on how to vote for them, go to their Facebook page, Abantwana...