BULAWAYO – He was finally found, a bit too late to feature on the official video, but a 12-year-old gospel sensation from Victoria Falls is getting his due credits from South African singer, Aubrey Qwana.

Andrea Sibanda became a TikTok hit after short videos of him singing his song, ‘Uhambo’, were shared online. The song reached South African musicians who clearly saw its potential – and some went into the studio to record their own versions, but not as successfully as Qwana.

Before Qwana could release his song, he asked his fans on social media to find the young star – but it was not until late October that Andrea was finally located in Victoria Falls. By then, Qwana’s video had been shot and had gone for editing.

With the help of South Africa-based artist manager Tendai Joe, Andrea – now given the stage name Andrea the Vocalist – finally connected with Qwana who bought him studio time to finally record his song, which is expected to be followed by a video.

In a video posted on YouTube, young Andrea said: “I want to thank brother Aubrey Qwana, who was the first to look for me. I would love to meet him. I would also like to thank Tendai Joe for posting my videos online.”

His mother Sanelisiwe Ncube added: “I would like to thank Aubrey for making my son popular.”

Andrea now has over 30,000 followers on Instagram and a video of him, his mum and father singing the song has been viewed over a million times on TikTok.

Fans have encouraged the young star to write more songs.