American rapper Doja Cat will be the first headline act at the 2025 Hey Neighbour Festival in South Africa. This will mark her debut visit to the country. Known for hits like “Say So” and “Kiss Me More,” Doja Cat, whose real name is Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, has South African roots. Her father is the famous Sarafina actor, Dumisani Dlamini.
Festival Details and Excitement
The festival, Hey Neighbour: Season 2, will take place from 29 to 31 August 2025 at the Legends Adventure Farm in Pretoria. The announcement of Doja Cat as the headliner has generated huge excitement. Glen Netshipise, the CEO of the festival, shared his excitement, saying, “Her energy, creativity, and ability to connect with audiences globally make her the perfect artist to start off what will be an epic festival lineup. This is just the beginning—we have more incredible acts to reveal soon!”
Ticket Sales and Festival Buzz
Phase 1 tickets for the festival are now available on the Hey Neighbour website. The event’s promotional video can be found on Instagram, building more anticipation among fans.
Doja Cat’s South African Connection
Doja Cat’s father, Dumisani Dlamini, and her mother, Deborah Elizabeth Sawyer, had a short-lived relationship in the 1990s. While she and her brother, Raman Dalithando Dlamini, grew up in New York and California with their mother, Doja Cat has shared that she didn’t know her father very well. In a 2020 interview, she admitted, “I’ve never met him, and he’s on Instagram and comments on my pictures sometimes.” She also called him a “b**ch” and “sis” in a few social media posts.
Despite her mixed feelings about her father, Doja Cat revealed in an interview last year that she had never visited South Africa. She said, “I still haven’t. I rely on my career to just throw me out to places. I know it means a lot, but I just like… wasn’t prepared to take the long-haul flight.”
With her first visit to Mzansi on the horizon, the Hey Neighbour Festival promises to be a memorable experience for fans of Doja Cat.
