'I am the ( bread) winner'

The family is made up of both parents, Nonhle and Okuhle, the three year-old last-born.

Her parents cannot stop singing her praises as her talent has helped the family improve its economic circumstances.

Nonhle, a Grade Three pupil at Beaufort Nazarene Primary School in Manzini, makes money through album sales and performances. The child star released her maiden album which, according to her parents, has sold about 5 000 copies.

Selling at E50, the album has made an estimated E250 000. All the money goes to the family because Nonhle’s parents produce her music themselves.

She also has a DVD album selling at E100 per copy. It could not be immediately established how many copies of it had been sold.

Nonhle performs at shows and gigs both in the country and South Africa.

The family recently bought a piece of land in Matsapha where they are building a new home.

They have also bought a car through money accrued from Nonhle’s talent.

The Mthethwas are in the process of acquiring another car - an eight-seater which will be used by Nonhle when going to perform in various parts of the country and outside the border. Her father, Mab-andla, said the Grade Three pupil practically paid for her own school fees, uniform and provided food for the entire family.

"Angeke sikuphike kutsi siyadla ngaye. Uyasisita kakhulu vele (We cannot deny that we are benefitting from her. She is helping us a lot)," he said.

Both parents are aged 32 and are not formally employed.

Their only source of income is music as played and sold by Nonhle and her mother, Amazing, who is also an artist. Her father said a bulk of the money came from shows and gigs where she was normally booked for performances at least twice per month on weekends. For performances, she charges E5 000 for general events, weddings E3 500 and E1 500 for church services.

 Mabandla said a lot of people had approached him to say the family was abusing Nonhle by ‘forcing’ her to sing for money.

He said some accused the family of abusing the little girl’s money.

He said there were other people who pointed an accusing finger at the family, saying it was exploiting Nonhle.

"We view these accusations as malicious because we feel they are motivated by jealousy and greed," he said. He said such claims were unfounded because the whole family contributed to Nonhle’s music career and to her becoming a star. Therefore, they all earned whatever was brought home by Nonhle.

"I play piano in all her shows. I am also her producer and my wife is also an artist," he said.

He said for his contribution, he deserved to be rewarded.

"Nonhle is a fully fledged artist who lives by her music. Music is business. We benefit because we are part of the broader business dynamics of her as an artist and performer and more importantly we are her parents," he said.

"Nonhle is our child and we love her. Yes, she is helping us a lot through giving us an income but we are also working because we are responsible for nurturing her talent." He said the family had every right to reap the fruits of Nonhle’s toil.

"We consider her as our child and an artist. God has blessed us because, unlike many parents who begin to enjoy benefits of their children’s work late after they complete school, we started to enjoy them much earlier," he said. He said God blessed his family with Nonhle such that her talent was made to shine at an early age.

Mabandla said some people offered genuine advice to his family on the upbringing of the budding gospel star.

"We know that she is still a child and we have a duty to provide the best upbringing and education, all of which will be helpful in her future," he said.

He said the family valued education and bringing children up in the foundations of Christianity.

"We go to church every day. We want her to sing about the life she lives, which is that of being a Christian," he said.

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