And the winner is the Samas: 27 years of SA music

This year marks 27 years since the recording industry of South Africa first celebrated local musicians in the form of the South African Music Awards (Samas). South Africa’s music history goes back significantly further than 1995, but that the awards started a year into our democracy means the Samas reflect a timeline of postapartheid music history.

After two years of virtual events, the awards return this year to their de facto home, the Sun City Superbowl. Zakes Bantwini leads the pack of nominees with a total of seven nominations, driven in large part to his success with hit single Osama.