South African musician and composer Dizu Plaatjies has won an award for his new album at the 2016 South African Music Awards event. The solo album titled "Ubuntu - the common string" achieved top position in the ‘Best African adult album category’. Plaatjies heads the African Music programme at the South African College of Music where he lecturers Ethnomusicology.  He is also an alumnus of the University of Cape Town.

Plaatjies is the founding member of the well-known South African Marimba group Amampondo with whom he toured for 15 years. On leaving the group, he founded a new ensemble called Ibuyambo, which performs regularly both locally and abroad. "Ubuntu - the common string" is Plaatjies third album following the success of “Ibuyambo” (2005) and “African Kings” (2008). This latest album is his tribute to string instruments and features South African melodies, blues, rock, jazz, and other musical influences. He says that his favourite tracks include those dedicated to Steve Biko and Nelson Mandela both of whom he met. He describes the album as a ‘complete departure’ from his previous work. The CD has been among the top 10 of the world music charts for the last couple of months. This is the second SAMA award for Plaatjies who achieved the first for “African Kings” in 2009.

This is the third such award for Plaatjies who says that it means a great deal to him because it signals a greater awareness and appreciation for the African music genre. “Winning this award means a lot for me, especially for my students, my community students and my fans and friends.  African Music is was never promoted very well in this country and so I'm very happy for this award to provide motivation to other artists. Its like I tell all my students: African music is here to stay. I would also like to see them winning this awards too,” says Plaatjies.

About the South African Music Awards:
The South African Music Awards (SAMA) is hosted annually to showcase and honour South Africa’s best musical talent. For local musicians and fans, it is one of the most sought after events, where a nomination and the gold statuette mean everything. The 22nd installment of the SAMAs took place on 4 June 2016, in Durban.