The SABC has started 2017 on a positive note, by releasing the results of its ‘Summer Song of the Year’ competition. Now in its 2nd year, this year’s competition saw 3 brand new Kia Picantos being given away to the winners.
One car went to a listener for voting for their favourite song of the year and the 2nd car went to a listener who produced their paid up TV Licence number when voting. The 3rd car went to the winner of the song of the year, who was artist Mroza with the song ‘Sobulala uVan Damme’. Mroza also walked away with a R150 000 cash prize.
In the spirit of transparency, the SABC says it is releasing the voting figures of the competition, which were audited by Sizwe Ntsaluba Gobodo, to showcase to the public the breakdown of votes for artists nominated for the campaign.
SABC Spokesperson Mr Kaizer Kganyago stated “As the SABC, we were very pleased with how the competition in its second year rolled out. The competition this year was bigger with 2 cars being given away to our listeners. 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. In addition the importance of paying your TV licence was evident as 1 lucky winner won a car, simply for having a paid up TV licence when voting”.
Mr Kganyago further stated that “As a public service broadcaster we look forward to the competition growing in leaps and bounds in the years to come”.
Mr Owen Ndlovu of Michael Owen Productions commented, “I am very happy with the results. All the artists that made it to the top 10 all deserve to be winners. The idea of starting the whole competition was to contribute in developing South African music and I am so proud that the results are already starting to show. Last year it was a brand new comer Nathi Mankayi – Nomvula, an artist that had never recorded before. This year we have revealed another new comer in King Monada – Moreki. It shows that this competition has levelled the playing fields as there is no automatic winner and everyone has an equal opportunity. For the latest edition of the competition, 2 listeners will be driving away in a brand new Kia Picanto, as a reward for voting. I would like to thank all the artists and public for all their efforts. Congratulations to Mroza for being the first ever Maskandi artist to win the ‘SABC Summer Song’ that took us to the New Year”.
An official handover of the prize money and car to Mroza as well as the public members who won cars, will be held on Thursday the 26th of January 2017 at Emperors Palace. Artists whose song also featured in the top 10 of the competition will also be awarded a monetary prize of R30 000.
Here are the voting results:
