How song joined ranks of S Africa’s greatest hits

There’s something seemingly novel about a song from South Africa going viral to the extent that the 2019 house music song Jerusalema has done in 2020. The song is performed by musician and producer Master KG and vocalist Nomcebo Zikode.

Apart from the song’s omnipresence on the sound systems of a cross-section of socio-economic neighbourhoods across South Africa, it has become a viral dance phenomenon, drawing in a diverse global audience. Internationally, politicians, sports stars, priests, nuns and monks, shop attendants, healthcare workers and infinite other global citizens have posted countless videos of themselves participating in group dancing, accepting the Jerusalema dance challenge.