Legal Journalists of the Year awarded

Winners

R50 000 print category, which included online

• First prize went to Franny Rabkin from Business Day for her articles such as "Women need a foot in the judiciary door" and "Separation of powers in a new light."

  According to the judges, these demonstrated a strong and original sense of what matters in the legal arena, with a clear eye on some of the transformational politics around the judicial system and an intelligent understanding of legal issues.

• Fatima Schroeder of the Cape Argus and Prakash Naidoo of the Financial Mail received commendations in the print category.

R50 000 Broadcast category

• First prize went to Michael Duffet of Face to Face Films for his documentary "The Ellen Pakkies Story", which tells the account of the trial of a Cape Flats mother who strangled her drug-addicted son to death to contain his destructive behaviour.

  The judges commented, "It is rare that a trial is contextualised with such a strong sense of place, people and spirit and it is equally rare that the reparative soul of the system of justice is captured so effectively."

• Mandy Wiener and Stephen Grootes, both of Eyewitness News, received commendations in the broadcast category, as did Kim Cloete from Carte Blanche

David Lancaster, senior partner at Webber Wentzel, said that the awards served to recognise the excellent efforts of South Africa's legal journalists to demonstrate how the legal system influences the lives of every citizen. "It is essential to acknowledge the skills of leading journalists who had turned their hands to reporting on the huge variety of legal issues that are an essential part of an unfolding democracy."

The awards were judged by Judge Albie Sachs; Tawana Kupe, associate professor in Media Studies and dean of the faculty of Humanities at Wits University; and Franz Kruger, adjunct professor and director of the Wits Radio Academy.

Jonathan Shapiro, better known as cartoonist Zapiro, was a guest speaker at the awards.