By Mduduzi Malinga
The 16th Annual South African Traditional Music Achievement (SATMA) Awards took place in Mpumalanga last month, to celebrate and showcase the richness of traditional music heritage nationally. The Awards were first launched in 2005, by the brainchild Dr. Dumisani Goba to bring all races and ethnic groups together through the celebration of South Africa’s diverse musical cultures, to eliminate tribalism and other divisive measures. They give traditional music its rightful status and role in the South African arts scene to preserve culture and heritage.
Celebrities and guests walked the red carpet in stylish traditional attire as they made their way to the SATMA Dome.
Brand South Africa’s Play Your Part Ambassador, Masingita Shibambu, popularly known as Ntombhi Ya Mutsonga, won her first-ever Best Traditional Praise Singer Award 2021.
The praise singer, who drives the promotion of arts and cultural identity, was born and bred in the dusty street of Matiyani village in Malamulele, Limpopo. Masingita who also ushered the President of South Africa at the State of the Nation Address in February 2020, says the State of the Nation Address (SONA) was her biggest platform to manifest her poetry to the world.
“I grew up in a Christian family and I was involved in every activity at church when I was young, from drama to music, poetry, and storytelling. This is where I discovered my gift of poetry. In 2014, I participated in my first competition with more than 400 people watching, where I developed a deep love for poetry,” says Play Your Part Ambassador, Masingita Shibambu
The multi- award-winning praise singer also started a sanitary pad drive aimed at helping less privileged young girls to keep them in schools for effective learning and progressive results.
Masingita is also the Founder of NYM Arts Academy, an arts institution aimed at building and nurturing creatives in rural areas.
Brand South Africa applauds Masingita for winning the Award and playing her part in empowering communities to promote arts, culture and heritage.
