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Catholic South African Twins Singing to Bring the “light of Christ” to the World

"The Light Twins" (Lesedi and Lebone). Credit: Radio Veritas South Africa

South African Catholic twins whose singing put them to the limelight at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic wish to bring the “light of Christ” to the world through gospel music.

Lebone and Lesedi Khunou whose names translated to English mean “light” began their musical journey in Alexandra, a township in the Archdiocese of Johannesburg.

In an interview with ACI Africa on October 12, Lesedi said that they strive to give meaning to their names, and added, “We are the light; our names mean light. But beyond that, we've always felt the calling to bring the light of Christ to others through our music.”

She continued, “We come from Alexandra in Johannesburg, South Africa. We are gospel lovers; we are gospel musicians, and our main aim is to bring the light of Christ to the world. Like most gospel artists, we started singing at church at the age of 10, and we grew up in the Catholic Church.”

“But beyond that, we've always felt the calling to bring the light of Christ to others through our music,” Lebone further said.

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Since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the many restrictions that came with it, key among them suspension of public worship, the South African devout Catholic sisters who started singing at St Hubert Catholic Church in Alexandra decided to use social media platforms to spread the light of Christ through “prayer” and by “singing” Catholic hymns to inspire both young and old.

During the October 12 interview, the Light Twins told ACI Africa that the COVID-19 lockdown prompted them to be more frequent on social media platforms to inspire and give a message of hope. 

Together with fellow gospel artists the Khunou, twin sisters released a song in response to the COVID-19 titled, “This too shall pass.”

“Lebone and I were always those typical Church girls that loved praying. At the start of COVID-19 we said to ourselves, ‘Church has stopped, but we need to continue praying’ and Lebone and I would go on different Facebook groups and pray the rosary every single day for an end to the coronavirus pandemic,” said Lesedi.

For the Khunou twin sisters, social media is a very powerful platform that can be used to draw the youth to love the Catholic Church.

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Lesedi added, “What I've noticed is the fact that we need to be real as people, and I think that's where we have got it right; that we are real with people and the youth are able to resonate with us and speak to us. So, I think as a Church we need to learn to be open to the youth.”

With escalated cases of mental health challenges among children and youth in South Africa, the Light Twins say that the Catholic Church should be welcoming to “the youth that are facing mental issues”.

“It's up to us to bring the youth back to Church, to show the youth that the Church is cool; that's what we try to show people through TikTok. Social media is a very powerful platform that can be used to draw the youth in and say ‘Church is cool,’” said Lesedi.

The South African Catholic twins who officially began their music career in 2015 told ACI Africa that they have experienced many high moments in their music career but have also experienced challenges.

“It's very important to know that as confident as we are now, it was a journey. We have been ridiculed; maybe people didn’t necessarily find us worthy or talented enough. And I'm saying to someone out there who's a young person who wants to do something but is being ridiculed, that you're not going to make it, that you're not good enough,” Lesedi said.

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The twins who released their debut album titled, Filled with hope, that is made up of popular Catholic hymns and original compositions, say they wish to fill a gap in the gospel industry, noting a dearth of Catholics in the field.

“We don't have many Catholics in the mainstream gospel industry and we are part of the few people that are singing Catholic music, which is so rich. If people took a moment to listen to the words, I think people would appreciate the richness of what we sing at Church,” Lesedi told ACI Africa during the October 12 interview.

Sheila Pires is a veteran radio and television Mozambican journalist based in South Africa. She studied communications at the University of South Africa. She is passionate about writing on the works of the Church through Catholic journalism.