AYANDA Ncwane not only manages the music career of one the country's top and most successful gospel musicians, Sfiso Ncwane, but has to juggle wearing two hats as his manager and wife.

The local music industry is still dominated by males when it comes to managing artists, but Ayanda is bucking the trend and says taking each challenge as it comes has guided her in managing her husband's career for the past five years.

Ayanda represents a breed of females who are staking a claim in this career and making sure they have a slice of the pie as well.

Actress and television presenter Minenhle Dlamini is managed by former journalist Phumza Nohashe while gospel legend Rebecca Malope is managed by her daughter Noluthando Malope.

Born in rural Ndwedwe outside Durban, Ayanda met her husband-to-be in 2002 when she used to eke out a living as a part-time waitress as well as an extra on local soapies and dramas.

Ayanda and Sfiso ventured into the industry as partners in 2009 and opened their own recording company, Ncwane Communications.

"He sat me down and said 'I want you to be my manager and my partner, let's do it baby'," Ayanda says.

"I didn't know what to say and because I had never managed anyone before, I said to him that as much as I was honoured that he had asked, I was afraid the gesture was like taking a gamble and [I] would not be able to forgive myself if I failed."

Ayanda says her husband trusted her with his career as he experienced a lot of exploitation as his career started to blossom.

But the road was not easy when she started and there were times when she felt that she wanted to "leave everything to the professionals".

She recalls how she had to develop a thick skin when males in the industry blatantly disrespected her.

Some of her challenges were to get Sfiso included in gigs and the fact that it was hard to sell a gospel artist on other stages.

"I told myself that I had to work twice as hard to get the male-dominated industry to notice me."

Her first break was getting Sfiso to perform on SABC's Live show on a Friday night, a platform usually reserved for dance music.

"The highlight of my career was when Sfiso won the 2013 Sama record of the year award and made history by being the first gospel artist to win this, competing against popular genres such as kwaito, hip-hop and house music."

She also believes that as his wife and manager she is best placed to say an emphatic no to exploitative offers, contracts and con artists who wanted to use Sfiso in the name of charity.

"My husband had been abused and used by people who made money by organising events and asked him to perform at a discounted fee with claims that they were donating takings from the events to charity."

Being his wife and the mother of his two kids adds to her list of responsibilities.

"He has a very busy schedule. We go to the office every day. Most of the time he is out performing somewhere and I have to keep the fires burning both at home and at the office, planning his next event," she says.

The upside is that the two spend a lot of time together.

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