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Gospel Music and SA’s Music Consumption Trends: Nontokozo Mkhize Wins SAMRO Highest Airplay (Composer) Award at SAMA32
“Esandleni” takes top airplay honours at the South African Music Awards (SAMA32)
Johannesburg – The Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) congratulates gospel singer-songwriter Nontokozo Mkhize, together with the co-composers, on winning the SAMRO Highest Airplay Composer Award at the 32nd South African Music Awards (SAMA32), held on Saturday night, 15 August 2026, at Sun City Superbowl. The award recognises “Esandleni,” the composition that achieved the highest radio and television airplay of any local work over the qualifying period.
The SAMRO Highest Airplay Composer Award is one of the ways SAMRO honours composers whose work resonates most widely with South African audiences on broadcast platforms. Following past winners including Kabza De Small for ‘Isimo’, K.O, Young Stunna and Blxckie for “Sete”, Zakes Bantwini and Kasango for “Osama”, and Master KG and Nomcebo Zikode for “Jerusalema”, Mkhize’s win for a gospel composition reflects current music consumption trends in South Africa.
That shift is also visible in streaming data. Spotify’s 2025 Loud & Clear report names worship music among the five fastest-growing genres in South Africa over the past five years, and Mkhize’s debut album, Lindiwe, was the only gospel project on Spotify’s list of South Africa’s ten most-streamed albums for 2025, passing one million streams in its first week and more than 28 million by year-end (Spotify Wrapped 2025). The same Loud & Clear report found Zulu-language music grew 37% in global royalties year-on-year, and 120% over two years, a sign that airplay success and streaming momentum are increasingly telling the same story.
Composers hoping for similar success in the years ahead should focus on three things: a consistent body of work rather than a single hit, placement on DSP editorial playlists alongside strong radio relationships, and local-language material, which the data shows travels furthest with South African and global audiences alike.
“On behalf of SAMRO, we congratulate Nontokozo Mkhize and her team on this well-deserved recognition. Esandleni is a testament to the power of gospel music to move audiences, and this win reflects the broader rise we are seeing in local composers claiming their place on air and on the world’s streaming platforms,” said Nobambo Goduka, General Manager of Member Services.
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