Home-grown Jozi girl and ex-Bryanston resident, Lyla Illing, will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sing Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrica at the South Africa versus Wales rugby match in Washington, DC.
Illing comes from a humble background working odd jobs to get through matric. With the help of friends, Illing managed to nurture her music career one gig at a time. Last year she packed her bags, grabbed her guitar and jetted off to New York.

Read further for 5 facts about Lyla.

“My big break happened unexpectedly when a video of me leading the anthem on my guitar at a South African expat braai under Brooklyn Bridge went viral,” added Illing.

Sandton Chronicle’s editor Ashtyn Mackenzie interviewed Illing, watch below:

When the match was announced, Illing immediately emailed The South African Rugby Union again to remind them about the audition tape she had sent previously. “They gave the go-ahead on my audition and sent my request on to the American Rugby Union, who had to decide if they were interested in having me sing at the match.”
A couple of weeks later Illing got an email informing her that she would have the honour of singing our anthem in Washington.

Five things you didn’t know about Lyla:

1) She worked as a junior producer on Darren Scott’s radio show and has met many ex-Springbok players and rugby commentators as a result, including Hugh Bladen, Bakkies Botha and James Small.
2) She will never forget making a cup of coffee for Joost van der Westhuizen during his final radio interview. She had to turn the radio station upside down to find a straw for Joost as it was the only way he was able to drink the coffee.
3) In her first week as a radio intern, Naas Botha took a mint off her desk after his interview, and being in complete awe of being in the same room as him, she couldn’t even get a ‘hello’ out.
4) She had a massive crush on Frans Steyn in high school – he might or might not have been her phone wallpaper for a couple of weeks at one stage. And Schalk Burger comes in at second place …
5) As a child, she spoke better Zulu than English.