Manning explained that she never imagined that her work would gain so much attention even though she knew it was a good poem.

Manning told OFM News that she was so inspired by her icon, Nelson Mandela, that she - in less than an hour - wrote a poem about him. She approached three record labels to release her work, but none of them had the necessary funds to do so.

Manning later wrote to Gallo Record Company and signed a 3-year contract, three weeks ago. The poem was turned into a song which was then translated into South Africa’s 11 official languages by South African artists such as Josh Ansley and Jason Jazz Brown, amongst others. The album titled Nelson Mandela’s Lifetime Tribute can be listened to on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Google Play, Apple and Deezer at R10 per song.

OFM News/Elsabé Richard