The hitmakers of Maak Oop Die Hekke are now award winners after receiving Song of The Year at this year’s Public Health Entertainment (PHE) Awards.
Juaniël Espin, 27, aka Nielo and Derek Plaatjies, 30, took South Africa by storm during the Rugby World Cup earlier this year when their track became the anthem behind supporting the Boks.
Nielo says: “We are grateful for the amount of support and prayers, not just from Montagu, Ashton and Saron, but the support of this country who celebrate the song with us.
“The feeling is overwhelming and to see what we achieved in seven months is amazing. We couldn’t have done it without the support of our people.
“We feel like winners because being a nominee was already an achievement. Even if we didn’t win the category, we would’ve still been grateful.
The PHE Awards focus on Afrikaans music and gives recognition to Afrikaans artists. Fans nominate their favourite artist or group to become eligible for the awards.
The top five artists are chosen from each category. Then the public vote. The top two are then invited to the awards.
So far the song has a whopping 1.2 million views on YouTube.
With the success of the track, the duo have been invited to radio stations for interviews, and to perform at rugby fan parks, the City of Cape Town’s Festival of Lights, alongside big artists such as Emo Adams, and were also featured on the television programme KLOP.
Nielo adds: “We know the industry is tough competing against all these amazing local artists. Not that we underrate our finalist competitor KRO-Barz. We respect his hard work and dedication to the game, but niemand het geweet wat ons weet nie.”
marsha.dean@inl.co.za