Khayakazi Madlala and Lwazi Dlamini earned top honors at the 7th Unisa International Voice Competition, held Jan. 31, 2026, at the ZK Matthews Great Hall in Pretoria.

Madlala placed second overall and received the award for Best Rendition of a South African Composition. She is a member of Cape Town Opera’s Judith Neilson Young Artist Programme. Next up for Madlala is Cape Town Opera’s upcoming productions of “Carmen” at Artscape and “The Cunning Little Vixen ” at the Joseph Stone Auditorium in May and July, respectively.

Meanwhile, Dlamini, an alumnus of the same program, placed third. Both singers recently appeared in Cape Town Opera’s productions of “Aida” and “The Barber” of Seville in Cape Town.

“It was incredible to see so much talent from all over sub-Saharan Africa onstage — the future of opera looks brighter than ever and we are so proud of Khayakazi and Lwazi,” said Cape Town Opera’s Artistic Director Magdalene Minnaar per an official press release.

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