"On many winter mornings," South Africa's newest lady of song, Simphiwe Dana, once told a journalist, "sunrays glittered over the (picturesque) mountains of Lusikisiki village (Transkei, Eastern Cape)", and that she, barefoot and with a bucket of water drawn from the nearest river on her head, would chant "ceremonial circumcision and wedding songs".
It is during one of those solitary, peaceful morning rituals that Dana made the bold decision that no matter what, music, and singing, in particular, were always going to be a part of her life - if not her life entirely. The South African cultural and music scene is all the more richer today because of that decision, taken all those years ago and the effect of which, Dana would only later begin to comprehend and appreciate.