Special Assignment team wins Vodacom Journalist of the Year 2002 Award

They were awarded their prizes at a glittering function at Vodaworld, Midrand on Saturday, 2 November 2002. Both Alpheus and Anna-Marie received cheques of R50,000 each as well as certificates.

The panel of distinguished judges voted the Special Assignment TV feature "Strong Medicine" (Body Parts) as the overall winner from entries that poured in from around South Africa.

The cream of South African journalism was on show on the night to accept awards in categories that ranged from investigative journalism and hard news coverage to consumer reporting and in-depth analysis on such subjects as business, health, sport and entertainment.

In the "Print Feature" category, Willemien Brümmer of Die Burger was the winner and she received R10 000 and her certificate for her story on the impact of HIV/Aids on the lives of HIV/Aids orphans, showing them not as mere statistics but the human agony behind the pandemic.

Two of South Africa's top journalists, Mail & Guardian's John Matshikiza and The Cape Times' Melanie Gosling, shared the R10 000 prize in the "Specialist" category for print. John Matshikiza's opinion column which makes for consistently interesting, challenging, and insightful reading was a deserving winner in the Specialist Print Category. Melanie Gosling's expose of the National Botanical Institute's sale of patent rights for many South African flowers to a private American Company won her the award.

Denzyl Janneker of the SABC won in the "Specialist" category for radio and took home the R10 000 prize for his excellent and creative reporting of a story that merges South Africa's conservation concerns with those of the traditional healer.

Three journalists from The Cape Times, Tony Weaver, Ashley Smith and Lindiz van Zilla, shared the prize in the "Print News" category for their story on the Harksen saga. Each element of their story was pursued and resulted in a story that has national and international significance.

In the "Radio News" category the winner was Christopher Motabogi of OFM Radio for his reportage on the Lesotho elections. Esa Alexander of Die Burger was declared the winner in the "Photography" category for his exceptional creativity in depicting the interaction of an English woman using Christianity to change the lives of prisoners in Pollsmoor Prison. Both winners receive R10 000 and certificates.

There was no winner in the "Online" category as the judges felt that the small number of entries submitted, although suitable for awards on a regional level, were not reflective of the high standards of online journalism in South Africa as a whole.

"TV News" category prize winner was Patrick Conroy of e-tv. He won the R10 000 national prize for his story on education in South Africa. He was awarded the prize for his foresight to track developments and to file a story with huge public interest that deserves attention.

Jeffrey Zikhali of Ikwezi Community radio was the winner in the "Radio Feature" category and won R10 000 for showing his ability to embody the beauty of sound and powerful words on radio in a feature that highlighted the long journey of two champions into the World Cup Soccer Final.

Entries were received from across South Africa and the standard was so high that the judges had a trying time selecting the winners in the various categories. In total, 836 entries were received from the print media, television, radio and the photographic Press fraternity.

In order to encourage journalist's who are new in their careers, Vodacom also added a special "Editor's Choice Award". This is for South Africa's most promising young journalists who have been in the business for less than five years.

And, in line with the belief that talent must be encouraged and nurtured, Vodacom will sponsor the winner of the Editor's Choice Award for a three-month study sojourn at the prestigious Thompson Foundation in Wales.

The winner of the prestigious Editor's Choice Award was Thebe Mabanga. Thebe's rise as a journalist of stature has been meteoric. He joined the Mail & Guardian as a free lancer straight from University just two years ago. Today, at the tender age of 24, he is one of the newspaper's most respected and admired journalist.

Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award was "a national initiative aimed at honouring outstanding journalists who report with insight and clarity in the face of political, social or economic pressures."