Ndlovu Youth Choir says Mandela Day performance's for 'everyone who feels like giving up'

Sandile Majola was living his dream until the pandemic gave him and the rest of the Ndlovu Youth Choir a rude awakening.

The choir mesmerised South Africans and the world when it reached the final of America’s Got Talent last year. The singers’ performance on the reality talent show led to an international recording contract.

In November, the choir released an album with a collection of songs performed on the show. It had seven international tours confirmed for this year.

Majola, the choir manager, said he was expecting a “beautiful” year.

“We went from Moutse village to finally being out there on the red carpet, with big lights and doing big shows. We were performing on all these dream stages,” Majola said.

“We were able to support our families.” But they refuse to be defeated.

Yesterday the choir had its first live online performance for Mandela Day, performing non-stop for 67 minutes. Proceeds will go to the Nelson Mandela Foundation. The choir also performed its latest single, We Will Rise.

“It’s a dedication to everyone who feels like giving up. We will rise regardless of what we are facing,” Majola said.

One of the lead vocalists, Lungelo Masango, 22, who joined the choir in 2014, contributed to writing the debut single. She said the members have been encouraging each other via WhatsApp.

“This song means a lot to me. It’s a reminder that the sun will shine again and that we shouldn’t lose hope. When our tours were cancelled I was shattered, so we wrote this song to give people hope and encourage other artists that one day we will work again.”

Choir conductor Ralf Schmitt said although the entire industry had been “shell shocked” he has been encouraged by the group.

When he first told the group about his concept for a Mandela Day performance, they thought he was joking.

They have not performed in five months. One of the last performances was in February when the choir performed for a sell-out crowd of 51,954 at a tennis match in Cape Town between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

“The first time we ran through some of the songs we last did months ago, everyone was rusty. We realised we had a lot of work to do and it actually came together quite quickly after that,” Schmitt said.

They have been rehearsing at the outdoor amphitheatre at the Ndlovu Care Group in Moutse, the same theatre that gave birth to the official choir in 2009.

Dressed in their signature Ndebele beads and colourful outfits, 30 choristers performed songs like Believe, Africa, Pata Pata and We Will Rise. Schmitt said the Mandela Day performance embraced the essence of SA.

“To me it’s a celebration of who we are and what we represent as a nation. Our resilience, our ability to overcome, our friendliness, energy, our warmth.”