It’s official! Khaya Mthethwa is South Africa’s latest Idols winner!

The 25-year-old Durban contestant triumphed over Port Elizabeth hopeful Melissa Allison in the votes, and was announced as the winner at the end of last night’s finale of the popular reality TV singing contest.

Over three million votes were cast in the past week alone prior to the finale – according to a statement released by M-Net after the live show, which was held in Johannesburg.

The special 90-minute long show featured performances by previous Idol winner Dave van Vuuren, The eight eliminated contestants from this year’s Top 10 as well as other musicians including Jack Parow, FreshlyGround, Toya Delazy and Zakes Bantwini.

When asked about the racial voting frenzy this year’s Idols has turned into, Mthethwa said the show was based on talent, not racial politics.

“Those who got voted out were eliminated because they didn’t perform as great and I ended up in the Top 2 because I worked hard to get here. It saddens me that when people achieve things, there’s always a racial element involved. I couldn’t fool the South African public each week on stage, as they voted for me as the winner. I am humbled and honoured to have won,” he admitted!

Mthethwa, the show’s first black winner, walked away with a total of R500 000 in cash as well as a recording deal from Universal Music – as well as a prize package that totals R1 million.

Mthethwa is expected to hit the studio “in the next couple of weeks” with Universal Music with a tentative album release penned “before the end of the year”.

His début single, Move, has already been released to radio and he’s already recorded and released a video to accompany the single.

“I’m excited to hit the studio. I’d love to perform around the country and say thank you to all my fans for voting for me. I hope they will enjoy my album and all the hard work and effort I will be putting into it,” he explained.

When asked whether he’d like to record a duet with Melissa, Mthethwa answered: “I would be more than happy to work with Melissa on a duet. In this competition we did three duets and the fans responded well to us singing together.”

Browse our gallery of photos from last night’s finale.

By Clayton Morar
Images via YIP Photography