Xitsonga Gospel Music Awards to take place this Saturday

The Xitsonga Gospel Music Awards 2019 event is on Saturday.

It was founded by Limpopo-based Ginani Mabunda in response to the problems faced by gospel singers there, especially from rural areas, due to lack of resources and platforms for their genre.

Mabunda said: “Xitsonga Gospel Music Awards is a social cohesion and nation-building event and is against gender-based violence, which is currently a big issue in South Africa.”

The Xitsonga Gospel Music Awards is a non-profit organisation.

The first Xitsonga Gospel Music Awards were in 2016. Mabunda said the awards were open to any gospel artists in South Africa who sing in Xitsonga.

And next year, Xitsonga gospel artists in neighbouring African countries, such as Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Swaziland where the language is widely spoken, would also be allowed to enter.

The launch of the awards took place on July 13 in Giyani and entries for this year’s competition ran from until July 30. It was free to enter to accommodate people who didn’t have the funds to pay.

The final nominees’ announcement gala dinner was held on August 3 in Giyani.

Mabunda and his organisation will be donating a house in Nkuri Village (Giyani) on Friday to a family of more than eight people.

“We have 10 categories and in seven of those each winner will walk away with R10,000 plus a trophy.

“Song of the year winner will pocket R25,000 plus a trophy, album of the year and artist of the year will each get R20,000 plus a trophy.”

There will also be two special awards categories. The one is Living Xitsonga Gospel, which will be awarded to Reverend Joseph Chawane and Pastor James Shimange.

The other special awards category will be a posthumous award to be given to the family of the late Weer Ngobeni. Both these awards come with R10,000 and a trophy.

Live performances on the night will be delivered by Jabu Hlongwane from Joyous Celebrations, Sipho Makhabane, Worship House, Go Explo, Sipho Ngwenya, Ndivhuwo Matumba from Joyous Celebrations, Takie Ndou, Themba Nyathi and many more.

Mabunda is the face of Xitsonga Gospel Music Awards 2019.

“Our vision is to see these awards grow and become popular, like the South African Music Awards and the Crown Gospel Awards, promoting tourism in the province as people will be flooding to Limpopo,” he said.

“Next year we are planning on hosting attendees in a larger venue, like Giyani Stadium, where it will be a true gospel extravaganza.”

• Tickets range from R400 for VIP and R150 for standard. These are already available through Computicket, Shoprite, Checkers and U-Save nationwide.