"I was overwhelmed by some of the politicians who were there. They were all dressed so elegantly and they sang along to my songs, which made me feel important," she reminisces.
Malope relates this tale as she talks to Sowetan about her new album AmaVIP, which was released last week.
I ask her if the title reflects on where she places herself in the food chain of society and rank. "God keeps me grounded," she responds.
Malope argues that the message of the title track and the music is that there are no VIPs (very important people) in God's kingdom; everyone is equal.
She reckons that she is the same woman from Mpumalanga who came to Johannesburg in the late 1980s in search of fame and fortune.
Her rags-to-riches tale is well-chronicled in the archives of the South African music hall of fame. And she has scaled the highest levels of success as one of the biggest selling musicians in the country, and how she keeps winning the Best Gospel Album Award at the SA Music Awards is the stuff of legends.
Malope's story of a former street kid who won a reality talent search show and began a new path as a music star inspires everyone.
She uses her gospel as a TV personality and artist to spread the message of hope and rising against all odds. And AmaVIP, her 36th album, is no different.
Looking back, she is expectedly thankful: "It's been a long time. It's all by the grace of God for sustaining me all these years.
"After my first trip to Israel, that made me realise I was the real deal in the music business," she says of her 1995 Shwele Baba Tour. "It was unusual because I had always thought Israel was somewhere in heaven. The Bible became alive to me when I walked the streets."
The Shwele Baba album sold hundreds of thousands of copies and is one of her classic projects.
She explains: "People in Israel couldn't understand a word I was singing, but their response to my performances was very positive."
Malope's music has managed to transcend all racial and other social lines. Her songs can be heard in the huddled shacks of Alexandra and all the way to the frosty European cities with fans who find her music spiritually uplifting.
"I sometimes get e-mails from people who speak French who've become my fans, after their children introduced them to my music."
One of the few things that have changed about the 46-year-old in her career is her style. She recalls reading an article in the 1990s where a journalist lambasted her for not having a good dress sense.
"The article said I dressed badly, so I took it upon myself to dress well without the help of a stylist," she says.
For our interview, Malope looks elegant in a black and yellow two-piece that can easily make any first lady jealous.
"I believe women should dress according to their age. I'm old now and can't be walking around in tights," says the mother of three adopted children.
Malope says her popular music show, It's Gospel Time on SABC2, started as a joke until her producer Thokozani Nkosi approached her.
"I refused at first because I had always thought people on TV were supposed to be well educated and fluent in English, of which I'm not," she says. "I told him [Nkosi] to find someone else but he persisted."
With The Synagogue Church of All Nations building collapse last month in Lagos, Nigeria, which killed 67 South Africans, talk has resurfaced of how gullible South Africans can be at the hands of bogus religious leaders out of desperation for life-changing miracles.
When I ask Malope about the tragic event, she pauses before saying: "It's a very sensitive issue."
She goes on to quote the book of prophet Hosea 4:6, which reads: "My people shall perish because they lack knowledge." She leaves it there; it is open to interpretation.
