2026 video still: ZAKES BANTWINI DJ SET , MAYONIE OPEN AIR JOHANNESBURG — MayonieTV / YouTube
Dance singer, producer and label owner
Zakes Bantwini, born Zakhele Madida in KwaMashu, Durban, in 1981, is a singer, producer and label owner whose work runs from kwaito into Afro-house and Afro-tech. He studied music formally in Durban, founded Mayonie Productions in 2004 and built a catalogue that pairs dancefloor pressure with vocal writing that borders on the devotional.
'Osama', his 2021 single with Kasango, topped the national airplay chart for 12 straight weeks, went four-times platinum and won Best Collaboration at the 2022 South African Music Awards. In February 2023 he took the Grammy for Best Global Music Performance for 'Bayethe', with Wouter Kellerman and Nomcebo Zikode. The albums Ghetto King (2021) and The Star Is Reborn (2023) bracket that peak. In 2025 he announced his retirement from music after 15 years, with a final studio album, Abantu, slated for a November release — a deliberate closing chapter rather than a fade.
Scatterlings: Johnny Clegg Reimagined brings contemporary South African artists into conversation with Johnny Clegg’s catalogue, showing that legacy can remain open, moving and alive.
Zakes Bantwini, Jesse Clegg and Msaki’s 2026 house reinterpretation of “The Crossing” gives Johnny Clegg’s grief-marked classic another communal space to live in.
Skye Wanda and Zakes Bantwini’s Echoes Of Botanical Gardens proves that their creative relationship is already more than a guest feature, stretching their chemistry across a full Afro-house album.
Zakes Bantwini’s foundation signals a bigger shift in South African celebrity culture: influence is no longer only about fame, but about the systems artists build for those coming after them.
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