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'God chose me for a purpose'

LOTS of prayers - and meditation - helped Nhlakanipho Cele become the winner of the I Want to Sing Gospel competition and a R150,000 cash prize.

Cele pipped top contenders - Malcolm Manuel and Thabani Ncube - after a hot contest on SABC2, which started 13 weeks ago.

The Umlazi, Durban, lad was voted the winner by viewers in the grand finale on Sunday. He told Sowetan after the show that he would immediately bid goodbye to his job as a stockbroker and the Durban trains on which he regularly used to sing for commuters.

His winnings include a recording deal with Lindelani Entertainment, which he said meant "I will be singing gospel in the studio in two weeks time".

"To be honest, this competition was tough, and you needed to pray a lot, and meditate before going on stage. Throughout the competition, I always believed that God gave me this platform to deliver his message, and deliver I did.

"I also believe that the other guys were equally good, and even have better voices than me. But God chose me for a purpose - to minister to South Africans who voted for me in this competition," he said.

Cele, who until now sang to commuters, has also resigned with immediate effect from selling stocks to concentrate on his singing.

"I will need to focus a lot on my career, and need to put all my energy into the album," he said.

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