Tiktok trend from South Africa: Is the Magumba Challenge coming to Europe?

Around 15 children are sitting on the green carpet. It's recess time. Some are playing together, others have water bottles or snacks in their hands. They are two, three, or four years old. In the background are posters with dots explaining numbers. Teacher Mamokete Mabote takes the remote control and plays a song. The first notes begin to play.

"Eh bathi thina sifuna lemali..." blares from the television, "sifuna amangumba, sonke sifuna amangumba. Heh awele." Immediately, the children jump up and begin dancing. They nod their heads rapidly, move their arms in front of their bodies to the right and left, and shake their bottoms. Some squeal, laugh, and jump. Even the two children who remain seated on the floor dance along with their heads and arms. "Magumba, gumba, heh awele!"

This video has been viewed 3.7 million times on TikTok. It's one of the most successful videos of the Magumba dance, which has become a major trend in South Africa and is slowly spreading to other African countries. The first Magumba challenge videos have also been created in Europe.

"A song that unites our nation," writes the magazine " Vaal Journal " about South Africa's 2025 hit, "Magumba" by musician and producer Khadeair, which has become a "cultural phenomenon." Released in 2022, "Magumba" is a song with a catchy melody, few lyrics—few words are used—and plenty of earworm potential. So, it's primed to become a trend.

However, the song initially enjoyed only moderate success and was almost forgotten. Then came Phemelo Ncamane. The South African high school student developed his own Magumba dance and uploaded it to his TikTok profile @Temane98 at the end of May. 2.1 million people watched the video – and started a challenge.

By the end of June, the video had reached several major accounts, and South Africa was dancing: toddlers and animals, grandparents and professionals. Farmers were moving to "Magumba" in fields, in football team locker rooms, in schoolyards and classrooms, and even at Burger King, people were dancing.

"The Magumba dance came to me one day while hanging out with friends," student Ncamane told the Vaal Journal . When they heard Amapiano beats, he felt the urge to "add something new, wild, and fun with my head movements—and just like that, Magumba was born!"

Khadeair already thanked Ncamane on Tiktok – the song is now number 1 on all streaming services in South Africa and was nominated for Song of the Year at the Free State Central Awards.

The term "Magumba" is slang in the South African language Xhosa and means money. It's about the pursuit of more money. "The motivation to pursue my dreams with what I love, namely art, and to inspire people around the world to strive for financial freedom," Khadeair explained to the magazine "Vaal Journal."

Tens of thousands of videos can be found under various hashtags, such as #magumbachallenge, #gumbachallenge, #magumba, and #gumba. Many have hundreds of thousands or even millions of views. The video by the professional dance group Squidboycally has 8.6 million views.

Otherwise, videos showing young children or older people dancing are particularly popular. And one shows the Magumba inventor on the stage of his school, Kahobotjha-Sak'ubusha Secondary School . There, the crowd is immensely proud – several students and teachers join in the dance, while the student body cheers loudly.

The hype is reminiscent of the "Jerusalema" challenge, which also began in South Africa in 2020. Master KG and Nomcebo Zikode recorded the song in 2019, and a cover version by Moagi and Burna Boy eventually went viral after an Angolan group made a TikTok video of it. People around the world participated – initially often individuals, later entire groups of colleagues, fire departments, and schools. The song reached number 1 in the charts in South Africa, France, Switzerland, Portugal, and Italy, among other countries, and reached number 3 in Germany.

Will "Magumba" be as successful as "Jerusalema"? It's quite possible. Now that almost all of South Africa knows and loves it, the song and dance are on their way to becoming an international hit. Kenya, Botswana, and other African countries have long since jumped on the trend.

"Magumba" is slowly reaching Europe. Videos from Portugal and Great Britain are already circulating on TikTok. Calls for participation in the challenge are being made on social media for various countries. The first video from Germany has 23,700 views.