Parents, teachers and community members welcomed the choir on Thursday at the school. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)
This article first appeared in the 1 July 2022 edition of the Cape Argus newspaper.
Cape Town - Parents, teachers and fellow learners beamed with pride last week when the victorious Injongo Primary School Choir returned home after beating their competition to win the ABC Motsepe South African Schools Choral Eisteddfod (SASCE) in Johannesburg.
The SASCE is a national competition that promotes unity in diversity, national reconciliation and social cohesion among learners. This competition returned for the first time since 2019 due to the pandemic.
Injongo’s principal Sithembile Mhltywa said after the school placed third in 2019, their sole aim was to get first place for this year’s competition.
“We are proud of the achievements of our school choir at the national finals. Our preparations started as early as January with our learners coming for rehearsals every Saturday, followed by a music camp in April.
“Winning at national level means a lot to us as we are not only representing the Khayelitsha community, but the entire province,” he said.
Mhltywa said this win would not have been possible without the efforts of his music committee, choir conductors for their teamwork and the parents who paid out of their own pockets to accompany the team to Johannesburg.
The school governing body (SGB) also played a vital role in providing support to the choir, and Philiswa Marman Faba, the chairperson of the SGB, was very proud of the choir and what the win meant for the community.
“Our win, firstly, is the exposure for our learners and school. Both our school and community are on the map, which will bring sponsors to uplift the standards and create job opportunities for our community. It will encourage learners to participate in choral music and maybe take music as a career choice,” Faba said.
The school was awarded a R10 000 prize for their victory and Mhltywa said the winnings would go towards the choir’s needs as they start planning to defend their title in 2023.
matthew.petersen@inl.co.za