All hail the King!

Zimbabwe Gospel music heavyweight Everton Mlalazi is floating on top of the cream after he was crowned Best (artiste) Of Africa at the recently held South Africa Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) Crown Gospel Awards.

The 17th edition of the awards ceremony was held at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand on 24 November.

To be crown the King of Africa, Mlalazi shrugged off competition from one of the continent’s gospel giants including Temitope Bukola David (Nigeria), Phetsile Masilela (Eswatini) as well as Tehilla from Lesotho.

“Wow, wow, wow, thank you, thank you so much. Thank you, South Africa, for honouring arts, for honouring gospel musicians outside of South Africa and thank you, Crown Gospel Awards, for honouring us and to Zimbabwe; this is yours,” said Mlalazi on his accolade acceptance speech.

Mlalazi’s exploits this year seem to have been the one that catapulted him to be crown the best in the continent.

His major highlight in 2024 was joining South Africa’s most loved gospel ensemble Spirit of Praise (SOP) which is led by the legendary Bishop Benjamin Dube.

The multi-award-winning Psalmist’s contribution to SOP 10 in form of two compositions — Pfugama Unamate and Ndofamba naJesu — have charmed many across Africa, with the latter managing to maintain the top position for a month on Star FM’s The Gospel Greats Top 20.

How did Mlalazi penetrate and conquer Africa?

For the past three years, Mlalazi has been doing a lot of praise and worship events across the continent performing in countries like South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, United Kingdom and Nigeria, among others.

At the Clima Africa Awards held in Abuja, Nigeria on 5 October, Mlalazi won two awards which are Africa Best Male Artiste of the Year and Africa Viewer’s Choice Award.

With the gospel now spread and heard in Africa, Mlalazi plans to conquer the world as he said there is an international tour planned for next year.

Meanwhile, the Crown Gospel Awards were a tribute to its founder Zanele Mbokazi-Nkambule who succumbed to cancer during the course of the year, honouring her with the theme, “The Legacy Continues” alongside her iconic image.

Her favourite performers took to the stage to perform and celebrate her legacy.