Awards shows teach audiences to look towards the centre of the stage.
The winner.
The host.
The artist performing beneath the biggest lighting cue of the night.
The person holding the trophy when the camera cuts in for the reaction shot.
But long before anybody walks onto the Sun City Superbowl stage for the 32nd South African Music Awards on 15 August, another group of people has already spent weeks and months building the machinery required to make that moment possible.
This year, the SAMAs are making a point of putting some of those names in public.
And significantly, many of them are women.
The Recording Industry of South Africa’s SAMA32 campaign has turned its attention towards the women working behind the ceremony.
The people responsible for the production, planning, coordination and specialist functions that audiences usually experience without ever knowing who delivered them.
That changes the way SAMA32 should be covered.
Because an awards show is not created when the first celebrity reaches the red carpet.
It begins much earlier.
Leading the SAMA32 project is Audrey Lummis, whose extensive experience in live events, brand activations and large-scale project management has positioned her at the helm of one of the country’s most complex entertainment productions.
Over the years, she has built a reputation for delivering high-impact events with precision and professionalism, where timing, logistics and stakeholder alignment must all function as a single system.
At the production helm is Beverly Moubane, the SAMA32 Producer.
An accomplished series producer and production expert, Moubane’s role sits at the centre of execution, where creative ambition meets technical reality and every segment of the show must be translated into broadcast-ready delivery.
Driving the awards’ communications strategy is Unati Gwija, SAMA32 Spokesperson, whose multidisciplinary career spans film markets, branding, inflight entertainment and strategic communications.
Gwija plays a pivotal role in shaping the public narrative of the awards while strengthening engagement with artists, media and industry stakeholders, ensuring that the story of SAMA32 is communicated clearly and consistently across platforms.
Supporting the seamless delivery of the event is Asanda Jaca, SAMA Project Coordinator.
With a strong background in operations and administration, Jaca ensures the smooth coordination of the many moving parts required to stage South Africa’s biggest celebration of music, translating planning into day-to-day execution across departments and timelines.
Portia Kgabale, SAMA Talent Administration, provides administrative leadership and operational support, ensuring the smooth coordination of planning, communication and event processes behind the scenes.
The office is further supported by Maria Radebe, Nompumelelo Gamede, Puseletso Radebe and Dimakatso Monareng, who collectively help maintain the organisational structure that allows talent management and event logistics to function without disruption.
Daniela von Plato, overseeing streaming, leads the digital streaming strategy and execution, ensuring audiences across multiple platforms can experience the awards live and on demand.
Her work sits at the intersection of broadcast and digital distribution, where access, reliability and audience reach must be maintained simultaneously.
Taki Makananisi, Guest Logistics Manager, oversees guest relations and logistics, coordinating VIPs, nominees, presenters and stakeholders to deliver a world-class hospitality experience.
This role ensures that the human flow of the event — arrivals, seating, movement and experience — aligns with the production’s broader timing and structure.
Together, these women reflect the professionalism, innovation and leadership required to elevate the South African Music Awards as a major national celebration of musical excellence.
Awards-night television conceals that complexity beautifully.
The viewer sees Cassper Nyovest and Zanele Potelwa step onto a polished stage.
They do not see every conversation required to make sure that stage is ready when they get there.
They see the performances.
They do not see the rehearsals, production calls, technical changes and decisions that had to happen before the performance became broadcast-ready.
They see an envelope opened.
They do not see the operational system surrounding every category, cue and transition.
That invisibility has shaped the way entertainment media tells the story of the music business.
We speak constantly about the people on the platform while paying far less attention to the people who make the platform physically possible.
The artist “owns the night.”
The host “carries the show.”
The performer “shuts down the stage.”
Those phrases are useful shorthand, but they can create the illusion that major cultural events materialise around their stars.
They do not.
They are built.
SAMA32 is especially useful for examining that distinction because of its scale.
The Homecoming Edition returns the South African Music Awards to the Sun City Superbowl in North West on 15 August.
Cassper Nyovest and Zanele Potelwa have been confirmed as the main ceremony hosts.
Preparations began long before either hosting announcement.
SAMA spokesperson Unati Gwija said in May that extensive stakeholder consultations were already underway as the awards prepared to return to North West.
That is what large-scale event production looks like from the inside.
The public campaign happens in announcements.
The production happens in months.
And the women highlighted by SAMA32 occupy different points inside that machine.
Production is not one job.
Project leadership is not the same thing as technical production.
Technical production is not the same thing as creative direction.
Artist coordination is not the same thing as stage management.
Operations, communications, logistics, broadcast, design and stakeholder management each require different forms of expertise.
The final televised ceremony works because those disciplines eventually stop looking separate.
That is the paradox.
The better the people behind the show coordinate, the less the audience notices the coordination.
A performer walks into the correct pool of light and it appears natural.
A video package ends at precisely the right second and the next segment begins.
An artist finishes a performance and the broadcast moves elsewhere.
The room transforms without the viewer being asked to think about how.
Smoothness becomes the evidence of labour while simultaneously hiding the labour.
That is why the SAMA decision to identify its behind-the-scenes women is more than convenient Women’s Month content.
It corrects part of the public record.
South Africa’s music industry is not composed only of singers, rappers, DJs and producers.
It also contains project managers, event professionals, technical specialists, production personnel, creative workers, administrators and operators whose careers are built around turning artistic ideas into functioning cultural infrastructure.
The same music economy that produces a nominated album also has to know how to place thousands of people inside a venue safely, transform that venue into a television environment and execute a national awards ceremony against a schedule that cannot simply drift because something became difficult backstage.
Those are creative-industry jobs too.
And women are doing them.
That point is particularly important in August because “celebrating women” in entertainment can become strangely celebrity-dependent.
We celebrate the woman with the microphone.
The woman on the magazine cover.
The woman who won the category.
The woman whose song went platinum.
All of those achievements deserve recognition.
But Women’s Month becomes substantially more useful when the frame widens enough to include the woman carrying a production schedule, solving an operational problem or making decisions in a room the television audience will never see.
The SAMA32 stage will eventually belong, visually, to the performers.
Its existence belongs to many more people.
When the lights come up at the Sun City Superbowl on 15 August, viewers will see the final product.
The women building it will already have been at work for a long time.
This year, at least, their names will not disappear when the cameras turn on.
Event Information
Event: 32nd South African Music Awards
Edition: SAMA32 Homecoming Edition
Date: 15 August 2026
Venue: Sun City Superbowl
Location: North West, South Africa
Main Ceremony Hosts: Cassper Nyovest and Zanele Potelwa
Theme: The Future Sounds Like Now
Tickets: Available via Ticketpro
Behind-the-Scenes Women Highlighted: Audrey Lummis, Beverly Moubane, Unati Gwija, Asanda Jaca, Portia Kgabale, Daniela von Plato, Taki Makananisi, Maria Radebe, Nompumelelo Gamede, Puseletso Radebe and Dimakatso Monareng
Reporting basis: Based on supplied SAMA32/RiSA campaign material highlighting the women working across project leadership, production, communications, coordination, talent administration, streaming and guest logistics; current reporting confirming SAMA32’s return to the Sun City Superbowl on 15 August 2026; reporting confirming Cassper Nyovest and Zanele Potelwa as the main ceremony hosts; The Citizen’s report quoting Unati Gwija on stakeholder consultations and preparations; Ticketpro event information; and Viranova editorial analysis of live-event labour, awards infrastructure and Women’s Month visibility.
Story index Key points, people & topics
Key points & topics
- Before the lights come up at the Sun City Superbowl, SAMA32’s women-led production, communications, logistics and operations teams are building the machinery that allows the awards night to exist.
- SAMA32 is putting some of its behind-the-scenes women in public view, shifting attention from the awards-night stage to the production, planning and operational labour that makes the ceremony possible.
- Before Cassper Nyovest and Zanele Potelwa host SAMA32, women across production, logistics, streaming and communications are building the awards show.
Frequently asked Answers from the desk
What is SAMA32?
SAMA32 is the 32nd edition of the South African Music Awards.
When is SAMA32 taking place?
SAMA32 takes place on 15 August 2026.
Where is SAMA32 happening?
The ceremony takes place at the Sun City Superbowl in North West.
Who is hosting SAMA32?
Cassper Nyovest and Zanele Potelwa have been confirmed as the main ceremony hosts.
What is the SAMA32 theme?
Current reporting gives the SAMA32 theme as “The Future Sounds Like Now.
” Why does this article focus on women behind the scenes?
The article focuses on women working across production, planning, communications, logistics, streaming and administration because those roles make the awards possible before anyone appears on stage.
Who is leading the SAMA32 project?
Supplied SAMA32 campaign material identifies Audrey Lummis as leading the SAMA32 project.
Who is the SAMA32 Producer?
Supplied SAMA32 campaign material identifies Beverly Moubane as SAMA32 Producer.
Who is the SAMA32 Spokesperson?
Unati Gwija is identified as SAMA32 Spokesperson.
Who is the SAMA Project Coordinator?
Supplied SAMA32 campaign material identifies Asanda Jaca as SAMA Project Coordinator.
Credibility & transparency How this story is reported
- Content type
- News
- Verification
- Verified — multiple sources
- Reporting basis
- Based on supplied SAMA32/RiSA campaign material highlighting the women working across project leadership, production, communications, coordination, talent administration, streaming and guest logistics; current reporting confirming SAMA32’s return to the Sun City Superbowl on 15 August 2026; reporting confirming Cassper Nyovest and Zanele Potelwa as the main ceremony hosts; The Citizen’s report quoting Unati Gwija on stakeholder consultations and preparations; Ticketpro event information; and Viranova editorial analysis of live-event labour, awards infrastructure and Women’s Month visibility.
- Sources & context
- This story is based on supplied SAMA32/RiSA campaign material, The Citizen, News24, Front Page, Ticketpro and Viranova editorial analysis. Public sources confirm the ceremony date, venue, host pairing and preparation context. The behind-the-scenes personnel list and role descriptions come from supplied SAMA32 campaign material, so the article treats them as official campaign context rather than independently profiled public biography.
- Image
- NOW NOW · SAMA32
- Primary source
- samusicawards.co.za
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Filed by Viranova Awards Desk for the Music desk · Sun City, North West, South Africa. Published 11 Aug 2026.
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