Teach Our Youth How to Use Their Gift – Ponti Dikuua

Ponti Dikuua is one of the few exceptional singers to come out of Namibia.

After being introduced to music at the age of five by his siblings and parents, young Dikuua shaped his singing prowess in the choir of the Methodist Church at his home town, Walvis Bay, before he made a name for himself in the local music industry.

Now a music producer, composer and choir conductor of note, the producer behind the soundtracks of local films like ‘Kapana’ and ‘Salute’, both award-winning movies, Dikuua has shaped himself into one of the most sought-after singers in the country.

“So far it has been a very beautiful journey for me. I was particularly inspired by my elder brother Alfred Dikuua, who is one of the most gifted singers I have seen,” he says.

“My brother, together with a few boys from the neighbourhood, was one of the first natural-born singers to start the first boys group at Walvis. I also started in a boys group by the name of Mascato. We were on fire and gained a lot of fans for ourselves.”

Dikuua says he is still a recognisable and respected figure at the coastal towns, especially at Swakopmund, because of their popularity back then.

His silky voice can be heard on Gazza’s top 2007 hit ‘Let’s Get Together’ and he also features on D-Jay’s hit ‘Namibia’, together with Oviritje star Diop, but the highly rated singer says his R&B days are over now and he is concentrating on his choir.

“I have my Collective Singers choir now and it takes up most of my time and creative mind. Our motto is ‘Uukumwe’ (togetherness) and the choir has grown to a massive 70 members from its initial nine and we have been together for 11 years now,” he says.

“The name was inspired by the fact that we are a group of singers who share the same vision and we move with the same heart and spirit. We are going to start the new year with a lot of new songs. I have been blessed this year. I have composed over 10 songs.”

Dikuua, who writes most of the Windhoek-based choir’s songs, reveals that the ensemble is invited to Canada in April next year and is on a fund-raising drive to realise their dream.

He says although he idolised American R&B and pop vocal group Boyz II Men while growing up, he has now found a sense of maturity and doesn’t listen to other people’s music. He says he prefers to work on his own music and the choir.

“We are staging the ‘Seasons of the Heart’ concert at NG Kerk in Pionierspark, across Woermann Brock, tomorrow night and I can assure our fans of fireworks. We will sing at least 20 songs and about 70% new songs are going to make out the repertoire,” Dikuua enthuses.

“We really want to make this, which is going to be our final concert of the year, a very memorable event. You must not miss out if you want your soul to be moved. We want people to go into the new year with a powerful soul transformation by good choral gospel music.”

The choir leader says the Collective Singers always deliver on their promises, and he expresses hope that people will come out in numbers to support them.

“The space is limited so people should go early,” he says.

Cedric Gowaseb, Marvelinus Swartbooi, Ziggy Hangero and Wayne Tjitjo are the choir’s other composers and songwriters.

Their planned visit to Canada won’t be the choir’s first overseas tour as they had a three-week tour to Germany in 2016.

Three years ago they were the only African choir to be invited to the World Choir Expo. The organisers only invite one choir from each continent every year.

Dikuua mentions the Hallelujah Namibia 2014 praise and worship concert, where they were tasked to back up all the artists, as the first biggest stage his choir has performed on. The event attracted some of the top South African and Namibian gospel artists.

He says although it is hard as a composer to single out any of his songs, his favourite was first ‘Hossiana’, but he is captivated by their recent song ‘Mohona’ (God).

Responding to the question if Namibian singers are good enough to compete out of our confinement, Dikuua says Namibians should first find their identity and improve on it.

“At this moment most of our singers use South African and Western music while neglecting their own skills and talent from a composer’s point of view. The South African lifestyle has a very big influence on our artists, ” he says, adding that it is hampering growth.

“As for the choral music and artists, the South Africans have stronger voices compared to us Namibians. However, because of the softness of our voices, we blend beautifully, which is something they can dream about and that makes our choral prowess stand out.”

The singer says the spirit of the choral world is healthy, so people should take their time to go and listen because the Namibian choral industry has evolved drastically.

“The government and its institutions should do more and start thinking about the choral genre. At the moment we are struggling to get gigs, but we are only known when it comes to funerals. There is always money available for the other artists,” Dikuua says.

“It is very difficult to maintain a choir without funds. We can’t afford to perform at a suitable venue like the National Theatre of Namibia because they charge a lot.

“That place is completely out of reach for local artists but their vision and mission is to assist performing artists. When is it that?”

He says the choir charges its student members choir fees to generate funds to pay the venues for rehearsals.

Dikuua advises young talented singers to follow their gift, adding that without proper guidance good singers could get lost and that today’s youth is easily distracted.

“They should have a mentor to teach them how to navigate their God-given gift. Our youth tend to do the negative things out of frustration. I always make time to answer where I can when someone inboxes me on my social media to ask for advice,” he says.

• The entrance fee for ‘Seasons of the Heart’ is N$150 in advance and N$200 at the door. Pensioners and children are charged N$100. The doors will open at 17h00 and the show starts at 18h00.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.