The 26th Annual

South African Music Awards The South African Music Awards (often simply the SAMAs) are the Recording Industry of South Africa's music industry awards, established in 1995. The ceremony is held annually, usually in late April or May, with the judging process starting in N ...

were held on 3–7 August 2020. Unlike previous years shows, the ceremony was broadcast as a five-night event, with the first four episodes being 30 minutes long, while the fifth one was a 45-minute grand finale. It was held virtually due to the effects of

COVID-19 lockdowns Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countri ...

, and for the first time, the award show was to be broadcast live on

Multichoice MultiChoice is a South African company that operates DStv, a major satellite television service in Sub-Saharan Africa and GOtv, a minor service operating in over 9 countries of this area and Showmax service. MultiChoice was formed out of the sub ...

Mzansi Magic Mzansi Magic is a South African digital satellite and general entertainment channel created by Multichoice and run by M-Net's local interest division, and is broadcast on DStv. History The channel launched in mid-July 2010 on channel 107 as ...

Channel (the award show was originally broadcast on

SABC 1 SABC 1 is a South African public television network operated by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) which carries programming in English and Nguni. It was created in 1996, after the SABC restructured its television channels. SABC ...

, but due to the channel's financial problems it was cancelled, then it was picked up by Multichoice). This was the first year the show was broadcast live via My Muze by

Vodacom Vodacom Group Limited is a South-Western African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services to over 55 million customers. From its roots in South Africa, Vodacom has grown its operations to include ...

. The award show was originally scheduled to take place on 2 June, in Sun City Arena,

North West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

and was to air live. The nominees were announced on July 9, 2020.

Winners and nominees

Nominees are as listed below. Winners are in bold.

Special Awards

International Achievement Award

Ndlovu Youth Choir The Ndlovu Youth Choir is a South African musical group founded in 2009. Their debut studio album ''Africa'' (2019) debuted number one in South Africa. History Ndlovu Youth Choir was formed in January 2009 by Ndlovu Care Group childcare co ...

Lifetime Achievement Award

* Dan Tshanda * Benjamin Dube Music Video of the Year AKA featuring

Yanga Chief Yanga Ntshakaza (born October 17, 1987), professionally known as Yanga Chief (or mononymously as Yanga) is a South African rapper and singer-songwriter. Born in Mthatha and raised in Queenstown, Yanga studied film studies at University of ...

- Jika

References

{{South African Music Awards 2020 music awards South African Music Awards