Videovision Entertainment produces ''great South Africans''

In 'Great Britons', the British public voted Sir Winston Churchill as the Greatest Briton in history, in a poll which attracted over a million votes.

'Great South Africans' kicked off on 4 June when the public was called upon to vote for their Greatest South African. In the interim, the public, media and opinion makers are encouraged to debate the issue and nominate their Greatest South African until 30 June when nominations close. Voting can be done by calling or SMSing 083 920 6933 or going online at www.sabc3.co.za.

The launch show of Great South Africans will be broadcast on SABC 3 on Sunday, 26 September and will be hosted by Noeleen Maholwana Sangqu and Denis Beckett. In this programme, the top 100 Great South Africans will be announced. This will be followed by a weekly broadcast of 10 documentaries profiling the Top Ten nominees, beginning on 3 October and ending on 9 December when the Greatest South African will be revealed.

Anant Singh commented, "The UK version of the show was truly inspiring, and we believe that it is fortuitous to have our people vote for their greatest South African in the year we celebrate 10 Years of Democracy. It would be interesting to see how many of the nominees would be political leaders, how many of these celebrities and also how many of these would simply be people who have made a difference in their communities. I am sure that there would also be a few controversial nominations, but it all is a function of individuals voting for whom they believe is the Greatest South African."

South Africans are urged to make their nominations by 30 June when the voting lines close. Nominations can be made by calling to give the person they think should be nominated or SMSing the name to 083 920 6933 or log on to the website www.sabc3.co.za and follow the Great South Africans link.