The Jan Kempdorp cultural group Legora la Mmino scooped the award for the Best Setswana Artist/Group at the 16th South African Traditional Music Achievement (Satma) Awards 2021.
JAN KEMPDORP cultural group Legora la Mmino scooped the award for the Best Setswana Artist/Group at the 16th South African Traditional Music Achievement (Satma) Awards 2021 this past weekend.
The awards event was held on Saturday in Mbombela in Mpumalanga.
The group members are ecstatic that they could keep their promise of “bringing the trophy home” after receiving overwhelming support from their fans.
They dedicated their achievement to the Northern Cape and their supporters “who never thought twice” about voting for them when they asked for support.
The founder member of Legora la Mmino, Palesa Siwa, 25, said they are proud to have put the Northern Cape on the map.
The cultural group was established in 2019 by Siwa and her fellow group members with the aim of promoting Setswana music through singing and dancing.
She noted that the road towards the announcement of the awards was bumpy, but it had paid off.
Siwa said they had faith all along the way when they embarked on the drive to secure more votes.
They were nominated with two other groups from the North West province – Tilodi tsa Magaga and Tswelelang.
She said they “never rested” since the announcement that they were nominated for the Best Setswana Artist/Group award.
“We were very visible and used every opportunity that we got to perform. We used public spaces, gatherings and hosted shows, where we encouraged people to vote for us,” she said.
“The warmth that we continued to be received with by our audiences was amazing. Fans really loved us and recognised our hard work.”
Siwa said they also managed to keep their promise of hosting a show in Kimberley, and also co-hosted another show in Rustenburg.
“In Kimberley, we partnered with a Delportshoop group called Ratanang cultural group and Dinaledi tsa Ngwao from Jan Kempdorp.
“In Rustenburg, we partnered with two other Satma nominees – Mmadintsi and Malome Tau.”
She said there were some challenges experienced during their build-up performances but they had all paid off well in the end.
“Our aim was to get as many votes as possible and all went according to the will of God. We had faith in God and we knew we were on the right track in rallying for support,” said Siwa.
She motivated fellow artists in the Province to continue believing in their talent no matter how long it takes them to get their “big break”.
“Local artists must stand strong. Let us artists strive to use our talent to fight social ills and the challenges of substance abuse that our peers are exposed to.”
