Isicathamiya

Isicathamiya is a South African a cappella singing style developed by Zulu migrant workers and performed by male choirs in close, carefully blended harmony without instruments. A lead voice calls and the chorus answers over slow, swaying movement and tiptoe steps, the name deriving from the Zulu verb ukucathama, to tread softly. It softened the loud, forceful delivery of the earlier mbube style into a hushed, polished blend suited to all-night hostel competitions in Durban and Johannesburg, where choirs in matching suits and white gloves sang of home, labour, faith and dignity.