Mbokodo Awards winners announced

Themed 'The Phoenix within me: African woman arise', the awards were held in honour of the outstanding women in the arts, and also paid homage to the transformative role artists play in rebuilding our society.

Songbird Sathima Bea-Benjamin, who passed away just a week before the award ceremony, was bestowed the Miriam Makeba Lifetime Achievement award. The award celebrates the legacy of Mama Africa, who through her art advanced the plight of the African people across the world, a fitting award for a woman whose foremost conduit was her craft.

Representing today's generation, singing sensation Lira walked away with Art Ambassador award, for the role that she has played in promoting South African arts internationally. While Simphiwe Dana walked away with the coveted Mbokodo in the music category, Tumi Morake in Comedy and Tebogo Kgobokoe in the dance category.

Mbokodo is an initiative of Carol Bouwer Productions working in partnership with the Department of Arts and Culture, and aims to empower women to be everything that they possibly can be. The awards celebrate women in 20 different categories, and judging is done using a peer-review mechanism. The results are independently audited by Ditsebi Auditors.

Winners

The winners in the different categories are as follows:

Women in Indigenous Art: Peki Emmelinah "Nothembi" Mkhwebane
Promotion of Language and Story Telling: Nthabiseng Sibanda
Creative Writing: Devarakshanam Betty Govinden
Poetry: Myesha Jenkins
Fashion Design and Innovation: Vanessa Gounden
Creative Photography: Zanele Muholi
Painting: Catherine Christie
Sculpture: Nandhipa Mntambo
Dance: Tebogo Kgobokoe
Opera: Pretty Yende
Theatre: Thembi Mtshali-Jones
Women In Jazz: Siya Makuzeni
Music: Simphiwe Dana
Promotion of Arts in the Media: Lore Watterson
Arts Ambassador: Lira
Women in New Media: Pam Warne
Architecture and Creative Design: Kate Otten
Women in Film: Helena Spring
Comedy: Tumi Morake
Miriam Makeba Achievement Award: Sathima Bea-Benjamin

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Minister of Arts and Culture, Paul Mashatile said that it is the work of artists such as these that reflect the progress we are making in terms of building a society we can be proud of.

"The women we have honoured here tonight have made an immense contribution to South African arts," says Carol Bouwer. "Through the Mbokodo Awards, we wish to remind women of the significance of their place in the mainstream tapestry of the arts. They are narrators, painters, singers, actors, authors, sculptors, amongst many other art forms".

"It is both humbling and uplifting to acknowledge them for the role their work is playing in the effort to build a cohesive society in South Africa. The task of transforming a wounded and divided nation falls not only to government and legislators, but to those who give expression to our deepest hopes, fears and ideals", she says.

South Africa's women are making a real and meaningful difference through their work in arts, and we are proud to call them sisters."

For more, go to www.mbokodoawards.co.za.