DURBAN twins Anele and Neliswa Mxhakaza, who stole the hearts of many last year with their Idols SA performance, have dumped the gospel group owned by Durban pastor Tim Omotoso.

The twins, who now call themselves Aneliswa, were signed by the pastor's girls-only gospel group Grace Galaxy last year, shortly after they were eliminated from Idols SA.

At the time the girls said they found love and consolation from the church. But now they have resigned from Grace Galaxy because they felt that the church stopped them from getting "outside" exposure and restricted them to performing at church events only. But they remain committed to the church.

The Mxhakaza girls left home in Chesterville earlier this year to stay at one of Omotoso's houses in Umhlanga, a move that did not go down well with their mother.

She later changed her mind and gave the church the authority to look after the twins and allowed them to stay at the pastor's place, where the other girls from Grace Galaxy also stayed.

The twins have since returned home to their mother after resigning from the gospel group.

Their new manager Sipho Mnyakeni said he had many exciting projects for the twins, including a debut album and a trip to the US where they have been invited to perform by a u niversity.

He said the girls could not stop talking about the people they would love to meet there.

The church was not available to comment and the twins directed questions to Mnyakeni.

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