Durban hosted the third Zakifo Music Festival this past weekend and I was on the ground for the Tastemakers Africa takeover. The best thing about Zakifo is that chances are, you only know a few artists who are performing on the night so it is a time to experience new artists. 2017 was no different.

I obviously had favourites who I was ready to see such as Thandiswa Mazwai, Petite Noir and Damien Marley but every performer absolutely blew my mind.

The festival is still young but has shown growth every year. Scroll down for images from the event and check out my Instagram for more GIFs.

All images taken with a Samsung S6

Top made by yours truly

Jojo Abot

The Soil absolutely blew my mind. I had never seen them live but I have heard only good things about them. Their show paid homage to the political and social issues were are currently facing as a society. I was confused when I got closer to the stage and saw that there was no band. Then I remembered that The Soil are an acapella group. They did an amazing job. Be sure to see them live when you can.

The Soil

Tiggs Da Author

Thandiswa Mazwai is by far the best South African performer. Her performance on Friday reminded me why we call her King Tha. It made reference to all the violence we are currently experiencing in South Africa. The performance was also strongly based on Xhosa culture which made me feel at home.



The King of The Noirwave was also a highlight of Sunday. I have seen him perform him live in Cape Town before and he received a very good response from Durban. The band and Petite Noir were dressed well and the visuals completed the whole design.


Before Saturday night I had never heard of Nova Twins. As soon as I saw how they were dressed I knew it was a show I did not want to miss. Their music is definitely not my favourite genre. It's quite difficult for me to listen to hard London rock but they did a good job and got the crowd on their feet. Everyone was amazed by their performance and quite intrigued as well as we are not used to seeing two women rocking out on a guitar.



The star of the festival was obviously Damien Marley. The son of Bob Marley arrived with an MC, opening act, band and a flag bearer. I have seen many international acts come to South Africa and perform to bigger crowds and on bigger stages but none have performed like Damien. I think the only person who has put on a better performance than Damien is Lady Gaga.

I was very nervous about my experience during his performance as I didn't know any Damien Marley songs, well that is what I thought. Even if you didn't know his songs you still would have felt the electricity in the air during his performance.

It was a great performance and he showed so much love to Durban and South Africa. I definitely think he needs to return to SA for an encore.