SA Entertainment News Desk
Vusi Nova independent Here to Stay National Tour opens in Emalahleni on 17 October across eight cities.
Vusi Nova is taking a decade of Naninina memories on the road with the Here to Stay National Tour, an eight-city concert run that begins at The Ridge in Emalahleni on Saturday, 17 October.
The nine-night itinerary stretches from October 2026 to March 2027 and marks the singer’s first national tour as an independent artist. It also arrives as Naninina, the album that helped establish his place in South African soul and Afro-pop, turns 10.
The timing gives the tour a clear purpose beyond a conventional greatest-hits set. Vusi Nova will revisit songs from Naninina alongside established fan favourites and material from his recently released Here to Stay EP, including “Thandeka” and the title track.
“This is my first tour as an independent artist,” he said in an interview published ahead of the announcement. The shift places the singer in direct control of a production designed around longer performances, rather than the shorter slots usually available on festival and concert line-ups.
After the Emalahleni opening, the tour moves to the South African State Theatre in Tshwane on 6 November. Cape Town City Hall hosts shows on 13 and 14 November, followed by another two-night stop at Boardwalk Casino in Gqeberha on 21 and 22 November.
The schedule resumes in 2027, with dates in Mangaung on 6 February and Mbombela on 20 February. The final leg reaches Durban on 20 March before closing in East London on 27 March.
That route gives the tour a broader national footprint than the Johannesburg-and-Cape Town pattern that often shapes major concert announcements. Starting in Emalahleni is part of the point: the series is being framed as an opportunity to take the music directly to audiences in several provinces.
For Vusi Nova, the anniversary also connects two versions of his career. He has said the past decade taught him to pay closer attention to the business of music as well as the creative work. The independent tour therefore doubles as a milestone and a statement about the next phase of his career.
Released a decade ago, Naninina became central to Vusi Nova’s catalogue and to the emotional connection he built with listeners through songs about love, heartbreak and vulnerability. The new concert series is expected to lean into that history while placing it beside the more recent Here to Stay material.
The singer describes the EP and tour title as an expression of endurance. He has spent roughly 15 years working professionally in music, including earlier tours alongside performers such as Mandoza, Ntando, Kwela Tebza, Zuluboy and Rebecca Malope.
This time, the stage belongs to his own story. The longer format gives him room to build a performance around the songs audiences have carried with them, while showing how his voice and outlook have changed since Naninina first arrived.
Independence also changes the risk profile. Without a major label underwriting the trucks, crew and venue deposits, ticket velocity in secondary cities becomes the real scoreboard. Emalahleni, Mbombela and East London will say as much about the tour’s health as Cape Town City Hall.
Confirmed: eight cities, nine nights, Emalahleni open on 17 October 2026, independent production, Naninina at 10, Here to Stay in the set conversation, tickets via Webtickets. The Wire Room will treat sell-through outside the big two metros as the measure of whether “national” is marketing or logistics.
Tickets for the Here to Stay National Tour are available through Webtickets. The opening concert takes place at The Ridge in Emalahleni on 17 October 2026.
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