The Durban University of Technology (DUT) School Engagement Project along with the Advancement and Alumni Relations Department and the Co-operative Education Unit hosted a talent show competition at Sastri College in Durban on Saturday, 30 July 2022.

The Talent Show was attended by DUT staff members, talent scouts, students as well as teachers, parents and learners from neighbouring schools. The School Engagement Project has six partner schools: Durban Girls Secondary, Sastri College, Hunt Road Secondary, Overport Secondary, Sparks Estate Secondary and Bechet High. Besides the Talent Show, the DUT School Engagement Project also provides academic support and other life skills programmes to the learners at these partner schools. The motto of the project is: Leading Ourselves, Leading Others.

The Director of Advancement and Alumni Relations at DUT, Zwakele Ngubane, welcomed the guests and outlined the background and context of the School Engagement Project:

“The DUT School Engagement Project was launched in 2018. This project is about developing innovation and leadership using DUT students as mentors to high school learners. This project also provides academic support and career guidance to the School Engagement’s six participating schools,” he said.

You could tell just by looking at the amount of dedication the performers demonstrated that they were looking forward to the competition and had been preparing for it. The competition was tough, there were 30 groups of participants that had made it to the finals and were competing for the five top positions.

There were prizes that were up for grabs, vouchers that can be used at stores at DUT.  Location Movers took fifth place and won a R1000 voucher. Intelligence Dancers were awarded a R2000 voucher for fourth position. Uthandoluhle was awarded a R3000 voucher for third position. R and B Soul Solo was awarded a R4000 voucher for coming second. The champions of the day were the Voices of the Angels: they were awarded the grand prize of a R5000 voucher.

Amahle Dube, known as R and B Soul Solo, explained how she felt about becoming number two and what motivated her to choose the song that she had chosen: “I feel so confident and proud of myself, I’ve been practicing so hard. I knew I was ready for this competition and I was going to be one of the winners. I chose the song by Jordan Sparks – One wing – because I relate to it, and my voice corresponded very well with the song so I knew it was the one.”

The winning team leader was thoroughly excited with their achievement: “We were only two when we started our group which was made up of two boys but we then decided to increase the number of  group members. It worked out, so we decided to join this competition which became a success as we managed to obtain position number one. We deserve this as we have been pushing so hard, at times we had to practice during our break times but look at us now, we are very happy about the results,” said Zizo Gaga, choir team leader of Voices of the Angels.

Berenice de La Croix; DUT School Engagement Project Manager, thanked all the competitors for taking part in the competition and the guests and funders for their support.

Looking at the excited participation and appreciation of the audience as well as the participants, it was clear that the DUT Talent Show of 2022 was a huge success and must be repeated.

Pictured: Talent show winners, the Voices of the Angels Choir group.

Nomvelo Zulu