MaWhoo’s ‘Bengicela’ becomes global sensation with 45 million streams

Songstress, MaWhoo (Thandeka Ngema), reached a milestone in her music career and excitedly shared on social media that one of her hit songs, “Bengicela”, reached 45 million global streams.

The singer captioned her post: “'Bengicela’ has done 45 million global streams across all major DSPs (Digital Streaming Platforms)."

"When I wrote this song, I asked God for more open doors, and it has gone on to achieve so much in such a short space of time. Mark 11:24.” 

MaWhoo further added that she is filled with gratitude and thanked everyone who worked with her on the song, including GL_Ceejay, Thukuthela and Jazzworx.

“Bengicela” is a 3-Step song that was released early this year, in June, and it speaks about asking God to hear our cries and open up more doors for us.

She mainly sings the chorus of the song, which says: “Bengicela ungilalele nami, ngiyazi sibaningi, S’khalela kuwe,” which translates to “Please listen to me as well, I know there are many of us and we cry to you.” 

These lyrics and the meaning behind the song resonate with a lot of people because everyone asks God to make their dreams come true. 

“Bengicela” is among the many tracks that she has been featured on that have a deep and spiritual meaning behind it.

One of her tracks, “Thokoza”, is another song that is considered to be spiritual and carries a deep meaning as it speaks about appeasing or acknowledging the ancestors.

In addition, this is not the first time that one of Mawhoo’s songs reached over a million digital streams. 

In 2024, she celebrated one of her tracks, “Ngilimele”, reaching 10 million views on YouTube while “Gucci” reached over 1 million views as well on the same platform. 

MaWhoo’s career has been on a peak, and she has evidently become one of the best vocalists in the South African music industry.

She has also showcased impressive versatility, effortlessly navigating genres such as deep and soulful house, hip hop and Maskandi throughout her music career.

Fans and friends celebrated with her in the comments section, congratulating the singer on her recent milestone. 

“This is not just a SONG, it’s a prayer,” @dalinkosi commented.

“Super proud of you, boo, you work so hard, “@tay_heavens added.