EL singers win record deal

A young a cappella group scooped R10,000 and a record deal when they won the Scripture Union Music Competition at the Mdantsane Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday.

Redeemers, a six-member group from Parkridge, East London, beat 12 other groups to claim first prize and a chance of a lifetime to record their music. Group members said they were excited that their dream of recording their music professionally would become reality.

The date for the recording is still to be announced.

They will work with music producer Vovee Batala of Vovee Music, who has worked with top South African artists including queen of gospel Rebecca Malope, Khanyisa Sabuka, Lord Comforters and Malibongwe Gcwabe.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Bongani Khuthu said they had been working hard preparing for the competition from the day they’d heard about it. “We told ourselves that we were going to do our best and we did just that and the judges were impressed,” he said.

Khuthu said since they started singing in 2013, it had always been their dream to have their music recorded.

“This is the beginning of great things in our music career and we are very excited,” he said.

Khuthu said they would use the money to buy equipment they urgently needed for the group.

Dubbed Scripture Union Gospel Sounds, the competition saw 13 groups perform. Five other top groups will be part of a combined live CD and DVD recording that will take place at the Guild Theatre at a date still to be announced.

Administrator Phumlani Buxa said the purpose of the event was to enhance awareness of their work in Mdantsane “because there is a lot that we do in this community”.

“We want the youth to enjoy being Christians and nurture their talents at the same time,” she said. Buxa said the organisation was about empowering youth through various programmes like sports, camps, holidays clubs “and all our activities are life skill based,” she said.

She said they were about teaching young people to make right decisions at the right time.