Every year public radio station Ukhozi FM announces its song of the year, and like every other time, it’s met with division among music fans.
This year proved no different after pop culture commentator Phil Mphela broke the news via X that ‘Umjolo Lowo’ by Khuzani had received the bulk of the lion’s share with 993,667 votes.
Mphela further added that Maskandi reigned supreme with Mthandeni SK’s ‘Paris’ coming second with just over 746K votes.
He then proceeded to share the full list of songs that made it into the Top 10.
Full list of Ukhozi FM Song Of The Year results pic.twitter.com/6Tdvd3SA4r
— Kgopolo (@PhilMphela) December 31, 2023
When an X user asked Mphela for his opinion, he responded, “Will comment on it tomorrow with a sober mind.”
But that didn’t stop others from giving their take on 2023’s Song of the Year.
Taking to the social media platform, many expressed their disappointment at the direction the votes had taken.
@MshaziNathi weighed in and explained that no matter which song is your favourite, if you didn’t vote, it doesn’t count.
This in turn brought up the discussion of the irony of having Khuzani perform as soon as the votes were tallied, leading many to believe the numbers were cooked up.
But it's funny how voting closed at 11pm and khuzani was there already waiting to perform ngo12..
— *PHAKADE* (@scott_niqqa) January 2, 2024
Let's be honest guys, ukhozi pulled another Dj Hlo here
Another joked that Cyril “Ramaphosa needs to set up another commission of enquiry.”
The general consensus was that ‘iPlan’ or ‘Paris’ were more deserving of the No.1 spot.
And as far as the backlash is concerned, Khuzani has promised to address the ratio station’s followers on Thursday evening.
He said he would be live on his social media platforms to address several issues following the controversy.
In the meantime, IOL sister publication The Star reported Khuzani was booed off stage when he was set to perform at the Gumba Festival in Richard’s Bay.
According to festival goers, he was pelted with missiles while encouraging the crowd to sing along to ‘Umjolo Lowo.’
The incident came days after Ukhozi FM found itself in hot water over accusations it had rigged the votes for Song of the Year, a claim SABC has vehemently denied.
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