Durban - The parents of a 12-year-old boy who started a crowdfunding initiative to keep their son at Drakensberg Boys Choir School said they were overwhelmed with the generosity of people.
Ethan Kagisho Palagangwe, is a Grade 6 pupil at the prestigious school.
The Mitchells Plain lad who is an overall academic achiever and a gold medallist in athletics, almost had his hopes dashed as his parents could not afford to pay the tuition of almost R175 000.
His father Kagisho Palagangwe, a law enforcement inspector, said his son started singing at the age of seven.
“Ethan developed his passion for music through the beautiful influence of his mother, Candice, who is a very talented vocalist.
“He would always sit and sing along when she rehearsed,” he said.
Palagangwe said they came across an advert in the local community newspaper that the world renowned Drakensberg Boys Choir School was looking for boys to be part of their choir.
“Ethan was very exited to be part of the choir and we explained to him that it is a boarding school and that he had to audition first.
“We took him for audition which was a success, and was followed by an academic assessment and an interview with the school principal,” he said.
Palagangwe said they were under the impression that the advert was actually a scholarship, only to find out it was not the case.
Ethan’s mother Candice said as sad as it was when they discovered they had to pay these school fees and couldn’t afford it, they were equally excited that their son was selected from thousands of kids.
“We were overwhelmed and very very happy that our son from Mitchells Plain had made it to the school.
“We were on top of the world and over the moon and that is why we went public with the story, we wanted to share the good news,” she said.
Candice said it “melted their hearts” to see people from across the globe share their story and donate to ensure their son continues on this beautiful journey.
Watch Ethan perform in the school’s latest music video "Butter" which was released in July and filmed in uMhlanga.
IOL