Award-winning South African musician and songwriter Zakes Bantwini has joined forces with acclaimed singer Zolani Mahola for Where You Are, a new song created as an anthem of belonging, hope, collaboration and community.
The collaboration brings together two established voices in South African music, with the artists drawing on the country’s rich musical traditions to create a song intended to resonate across communities and generations.
For Bantwini, music has always been closely connected to South Africa’s history and identity.
“Music plays an integral part in our diverse cultures; it’s part of our heritage,” he says. “Our history is marked with struggle songs, songs of celebration or elation, sorrow and joy. Sung storytelling, protest or gospel, it’s in our DNA. But it is in the township where music really lives.”
A song about belonging
Where You Are blends Afro House, Dance, Afro Tech and Folk, incorporating saxophone, brass instruments and African percussion.
The production is designed to bring together contemporary South African sounds with elements associated with the country’s rural and township musical traditions.
The song also moves between five of South Africa’s national languages, reinforcing its focus on connecting people from different backgrounds.
Bantwini says the song was created against a backdrop where South Africans can sometimes feel overlooked.
“As South Africans we are often overlooked and undervalued, yet we can be unstoppable,” he says. “We wanted to create something that was made for all of us, in a way that resonates individually.”
The track’s bridge deliberately introduces a nostalgic nursery-rhyme quality through the words “Right in your corner, where you are…”, before moving into lyrics that emphasise togetherness:
“Busuku nemini” – day and night
“Nanini nanini” – wherever, whenever
“Komkhulu nomncinci” – old and young
“Just wanna be where you are”
Two artists with global connections
Both Bantwini and Mahola have built careers that extend beyond individual releases, with each having been involved in music projects that have placed South African and African music on international stages.
Mahola, formerly the lead singer of Freshlyground, co-wrote and performed alongside Shakira on Waka Waka (This Time for Africa), the official song associated with the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted in South Africa.
Bantwini has similarly been part of internationally recognised African music projects. His Grammy win with Nomcebo Zikode and Walter Kellerman for Bayethe brought further global recognition to South African music.
Their collaboration on Where You Are therefore brings together artists whose careers have already been linked to moments of South African music reaching international audiences.
From a brand idea to an anthem
The song originated from an idea developed between creative agency Grid Worldwide and fintech company Lesaka Technologies.
According to the release, Lesaka’s involvement was informed by its stated focus on being a human-first company and working closely with customers, merchants and communities.
The concept ultimately became an opportunity for Bantwini and Mahola to create a piece of music that extended beyond a commercial message.
“The idea of Where You Are gave Zakes and me a reason to create something bigger than a song,” says Mahola.
“It became an anthem about belonging. About recognising one another, celebrating what we can create together, and reminding South Africans that wherever you are, you have a place in this country and in its story.”
A collaboration decades in the making
The release describes the meeting of Bantwini and Mahola as a collaboration decades in the making, bringing together two artists with distinct musical identities and histories.
Where You Are uses that contrast as part of its sound – Bantwini’s Afro House and dance influences meeting Mahola’s soulful and folk-rooted vocal style.
The result is positioned as a song that reflects South Africa’s longstanding relationship with music as a means of storytelling, celebration, protest, remembrance and connection.
Where You Are is now available to stream on major platforms, including Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, Deezer, Tidal and Amazon Music.
