Pictures of 2012 Idols SA winner, Khaya Mthethwa, in his childhood growing up in KZN.
Even as a young boy, it was clear that Idols winner Khaya Mthethwa was a talented musician. He taught himself to play the guitar, the drums and the piano. Spokesman for the Umlazi Oasis Fellowship Centre Zama Shongwe said that Khaya would stay behind after church services to practise.
“He always had that love |for music,” said Shongwe, “And our musical directors, Phelelani Mnomiya and Thulani Shezi, knew right from the beginning that he was destined for great things.” When he was 11, he started singing with the church and he has been the musical director there since he was 19.
The church offered Khaya its full support throughout his time on the reality show.
“Some of our members would buy airtime for the sole purpose of voting for Khaya,” Shongwe said yesterday. “The church even set up a big-screen TV with DStv so that people could come and watch Khaya perform on Sunday nights.”
Much of Khaya’s support also came from Joyous Celebration, a nationwide project that identifies talented gospel singers and gives them a platform to perform on. Khaya has been singing with Joyous Celebration for the past three years.
“It’s so exciting to see someone who we’ve trained performing on Idols,” the organisation’s Lindelani Mkhize said yesterday.
He said they had used every opportunity they could to punt Khaya.
“We made use of social media platforms to garner support for him, and we promoted him at every one of the concerts we put on during our recent national tour,” he said.
“He has often tweeted us or sent us messages to say thank you.”
Mkhize said that despite Khaya’s growing popularity – he recently reached 45 000 Twitter followers – he was a grounded and humble young man.
Khaya’s older cousin, Siyabonga Mthethwa, agreed. The two were close growing up and Siyabonga called Khaya a “disciplined but very social, down-to-earth guy”.
Some of his fondest childhood memories were of sitting at the piano with Khaya and working on new songs together.
“We always knew he was good enough to make it,” said Siyabonga.
Ryan Canning, Khaya’s music teacher when he was at high school at Highway Christian College in Pinetown, echoed this sentiment.
“It was always obvious that he had a natural singing ability and a talent with instruments,” Canning said. “Music is so much a part of him and this is just the beginning of what I think will be a long and successful career.”
