The first ever MTV Africa Awards (MAMAs) took place in Abuja, Nigeria on Saturday the 22nd November.

South Africa’s most successful rock band, Seether, claimed the award for Best Alternative. The broad genre of the category had Seether up against Coldplay, Goldfish, The Parlotones and Buraka Som Sistema but the public vote made Seether the clear winners.

The award could only be expected with music videos for ‘Fake It’ and ‘Rise Above This’ earning Seether extensive television airplay the world over. The band’s latest single, ‘Breakdown’, was unveiled two weeks ago and is already on high rotation.

Seether was also nominated for the MTV Africa Artist of the Year award but lost to Nigerian performer D’banj. Six of the ten awards went to the host nation so Seether was proud to walk away with two nominations and one award.

Seether could not attend the ceremony due to prior US tour commitments with Staind and Papa Roach. The band pre-recorded an acceptance speech thanking all the fans at home for their support.

Bassist Dale Stewart commented; “We’ve been away from home for a very long time, we miss Africa a lot so getting this award is just great… We can’t wait to come home and play for you guys again. Hope to see you all soon.”

The award adds to Seether’s string of accolades in their home territory. The latest album, “Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces”, earned the band their first gold record in Southern Africa as well as their first South African Music Award. Now with the addition of a MAMA it seems that Seether will need to expand the trophy cabinet for many more awards to come.

The MTV Africa Awards will air on MTV Base (DSTV channel 322) on Saturday 29th November 2008 at 19:30 (GMT+2).