This past Saturday, the Top 9 competition of the Cape Malay Choir Board took place at the Bellville Velodrome.
It was a pleasant surprise for me to enter the venue and find it filled to capacity.
It was as if everybody thought to themselves, this might be the last time they would get to watch the Malay choirs live, so they made their way there despite the news of more Covid-19 patients emerging.
This was now all before President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday declared a state of disaster and banned large gatherings.
People were not necessarily nervous about the pandemic but they did not greet the conventional way, which is to shake hands.
Instead, we were elbow greeting and this was even before the president suggested it.
Anyway, the competition was tough, with the best of the fraternity going head to head.
In the end, the Ottoman Sporting Club walked away as the winners of the Top 9.
DOMINANT FORCE: Ameer Williams. Picture: Focus Events Media.
They once again won the combine kings trophy which was coached by Ameer Williams.
Ameer is fast becoming a brand in this fraternity and I love that he is no longer hiding in the shadows but taking the lead front and center.
He has a humble personality but nowadays he is more visible.
Ghakeem Roman has now cemented his name as one of the great moppie singers in history, winning the Top 8 and Top 9 back to back.
He has impacted the item with his ability to shift to different personalities throughout the moppie.
The creative minds behind their moppie, Moosa Parker and Yunus Jones, deserve much praise because they tend to create moppies that suit the voorsinger in such a way that he can’t get it wrong, and you can’t really see anyone else perform it afterwards.
Roman has maintained his title of moppie king at Malay choir level.
The Nederlandslied was won by the Shoprite Jonge Studente who were led by the talented Taariq Abrahams.
On the day, the Rangers singkoor also gave a stunning performance.
I especially loved their combine chorus.
The team was well disciplined and managed to sing in a soft gentle tone, while hitting all the right notes, which is quite difficult to maintain, and many a good coach will tell you, “ dit is maklik om hard te sing, enige een kan skree, maar om sag te sing is swaar”.
I commend them on a beautiful story which was well performed.
LIEDJIE: Taariq Abrahams of the Jong Studente. Picture: Focus Events Media.
Their young coach Rameez has now begun showing that he is one of the top coaches in the fraternity.
Rangers ended up in second place at the Top 9, much to the delight of their supporters.
With that said, I do not think we will get to see any marching taking place this year because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The marching usually decides who wins the Koefieyah but sadly with events being cancelled all over, I can’t see the marching happening this year, seeing as gatherings of over 100 people are banned.
In the end Allah knows best, so let us keep making du’ah that this pandemic can be contained and that a cure is found really soon, because many lives are at risk.
JOY: I was happy to see Bellville Velodrome packed on Saturday. Picture: Focus Events Media.
Shukran to Mr Shafiq April and the board of directors for running a successful event.
To all the choirs, especially the ones who were not mentioned, thank you for always giving your best for our audiences.
Salaam to all and don’t forget to keep washing your hands.