Johannesburg – KwaZulu-Natal Maskandi artist, Mroza Fakude, on Wednesday walked away with a R150 000 cash prize and a brand new Kia Picanto after his hit song "Van Damme" was voted as SABC's Song of the year for 2016.
In the figures of "SABC Summer Song of the Year 2016" released by the SABC and which were audited by the firm Sizwe Ntsaluba Gobodo, the breakdown of votes for artists nominated for the campaign showed that Mroza won a tight race against his rivals by a mere five percent. Fakude's hit song "Sobulala uVan Damme", literally meaning "We are going to kill Van Damme", but figuratively meaning one can overcome any obstacles with determination, garnered 176 452 votes or 20 percent of the total eligible votes cast across a total of eight SABC radio stations.
This was while his nearest rival, King Monada's "Ska Bhora Moreki" received 132,616 votes or 15 percent, and the favourite Babes Wodumo's "Wololo" could only garner 125 863 votes, or 14.3 percent, both featuring across 15 radio stations.
SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the public broadcaster was very pleased with how the competition, now in its second year, rolled out.
"We want to encourage the public to vote for their favourite song or musician when the competition returns toward the end of this year, as it is only through their votes that an artist wins," Kganyago said.
"As a public service broadcaster we look forward to the competition growing in leaps and bounds in the years to come."
There would be an official handover of the prize money and car to Mroza on January 26 at Emperors Palace.
Other artists whose song also featured in the top 10 of the competition would also be awarded a monetary prize of R30 000.
Two lucky listeners also won a car each for voting for their favourite song of the year and for producing their paid up TV Licence number when voting for the SABC Summer Song of the Year 2016.