SA Idols golden ticket winner, Xolani, helps Phambili learners
The musician, who had judges wowed at his audition, has a wealth of experience and advice to offer the youngsters.
XOLANI Khowa, a golden ticket winner from the Durban auditions for this year’s SA Idols, is helping to lift up students at Seaview’s Phambili High by preparing matric learners for their drama finals.
“I studied singing and drama and now I feel the need to give something back to students who are starting out,” said Khowa when Queensburgh News visited a year 12 class of drama students at the school recently.
The musician, who had judges wowed at his audition, has a wealth of experience and advice to offer the youngsters and he, along with another talent, Sanele Maphumulo, a dancer and movement expert, is mentoring the learners.
Drama teacher, Mehrunnissa Mullah Muhammad, said she was grateful the two artists had taken it upon themselves to help the youngsters as she could see how they have inspired them to reach greater heights.
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Maphumulo said he and his brother, as well as others from his community of Lamontville, had created an organisation aimed to give deprived youth the opportunity to speak out and offer service to others.
“I feel we have a duty to help each other in this life,” he said. Taking on the voluntary assistance to help prepare learners for their drama exams by sharing his talents with them, was a natural extension of this work.
Khowa said his love of singing comes from the stories his grandmother told him while growing up.
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The self-taught musician first picked up a guitar when his grandmother saved up to buy him one.
“I picked it up and thought, ‘how hard could it be?’ then started learning by experimenting with sounds and tunes,” he said.
Today his guitar accompanies him everywhere. He even played it during his Idols’ audition and won a golden ticket this year.
The school needs many things to help it build on the work the teachers and these volunteers are doing.
“We plan to hold a talent concert which the learners will be participating in,” said Muhammad.
“The school also needs help with fixing broken windows, better lighting, and if we could get donations of T-shirts for the learners to use when they perform, that would be very helpful too.”
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