South African Music Awards Announces Top 5 Nominees: “This Moment Signals the Start of the Race”

South African Music Awards Announces Top 5 Nominees: “This Moment Signals the Start of the Race”

  • South African Music Awards (SAMA 31) recently announced the top five nominees on social media
  • Thandiswa Mazwa, Black Motion, Kelvin Momo, Sjava and Gqom DJ Goldmax are the top 5 artists
  • SAMA spokesperson Unati Gwija shared with Briefly News why they named these artists the top nominees for this year's awards
Thandiswa Mazwai is part of the top 5 SAMA nominees
Top 5 artists for SAMA awards have been announced. Image: Oupa Bopape/Gallo Images via Getty Images
Source: Getty Images

The wait for the biggest award ceremony in South Africa is close. The South African Music Awards (SAMAs 31) recently released the names of their top five artists with the most nominees.

According to Daily Sun, the award organisers made an exciting announcement this time around, rather than in August 2025, when they revealed that they were going to have a virtual nominee announcement ceremony.

In their recent revelation, the SAMAs have named Thandiswa Mazwai, Black Motion, Sjava, Kelvin Momo and Gqom DJ Goldmax as their top five nominees who are dominating across all categories at this year's awards.

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Mazwai, Black Motion and Kelvin Momo are leading the pack with five nominations each, and the other two have three nominations each.

Why SAMAs named these artists their top nominees

While many might have wondered why these talented artists are the only ones named the top five nominees for this year's award, the newly appointed spokesperson, Unati Gwija, shared with Briefly News that the stars represent a new era where talent, artistry and resilience converge in the music business.

"We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the Top 5 nominees of the 31st Annual South African Music Awards. Our Top 5 categories reflect a new era where talent, artistry and resilience converge. The much-vaunted Top 5 announcement is more than just a roll-call of nominees; it’s the ignition point for the SAMA countdown.
"This moment signals the start of the race toward the ceremony, building hype, sharpening the rivalries, and rallying fans behind their favourites as the nation counts down to SAMA31," she said.

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Black Motion express their gratitude for their multiple SAMA nominations

On Saturday, 4 October 2025, the popular duo Black Motion shared a video of themselves on social media thanking the awards organisers for nominating them five times.

The post was captioned:

"The legacy continues! Black Motion are no strangers to the #SAMA stage - and this year, they’re back with multiple nominations at #SAMA31, including Best Produced Album and Best Engineered Album for The Cradle Of Art. In their own words, hear how it feels to be recognised yet again for their craft, their sound, and their journey in shaping South African music."

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Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Mbali Tebele avatar

Mbali Tebele (Entertainment Editor) Mbali Tebele is a senior entertainment writer at Briefly News (joined 2023) with eight years of experience. She is a Journalism graduate from IIE Rosebank College (2018). She started her career in 2018 as a news writer, then moved to Add-X Marketing Solution as an account coordinator & social media assistant (2020). She was a freelance writer at Newskoop (2021) and a multimedia journalist and social media assistant at Daily Sun Newspaper (2022). Email: mbali.tebele@briefly.co.za