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All the Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards winners

10 May 2011

Mondi Shanduka Newsprint, Print Media South Africa and Newspaper Association of South Africa announced the winners of the 10th annual Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards and the Frewin, Joel Mervis and McCall competitions; the latest Allan Kirkland Soga Lifetime Achiever; and the latest Print Media Fellow tonight, Tuesday, 10 May 2011, at Johannesburg's iconic Turbine Hall. A special award was made posthumously to the late Andriette Stofberg, for her extraordinary contribution to newspaper journalism.

Special awards

South African Story of the Year	amaBhungane Mail & Guardian Centre for Investigative Journalism, headed by Sam Sole & Stefaans Brümmer, contributions from Ilham Rawoot, Adriaan Basson, Jackie Mapiloko and Mahlatsi Gallens	Investigative series on 'Zuma Inc'	Prof Guy Berger: "The team sank their teeth into the issue and did not let go. Instead, they systematically worked their way through the many complex stories they unearthed and which they summed up as the rise of the 'Zuma Inc'. This journalism set the agenda which other media could not but follow."
South African Journalist of the Year	Matuma Letsoalo, Mail & Guardian	'Mrs Vavi, the pension fund and the R40 000 bribe'; 'Vavi-linked firm in new bribe scandal'; 'Car given to Vavi's sidekick'; 'Company hit by new scandal'; 'Police set to probe M&G 'briber''	Judges: "Letsoalo broke an important story at a time when its indirect subject, Zwelinzima Vavi, could be described as having become endeared to the media through his anti-corruption stance. It was a story with consequences, and it entailed excellent follow-up as it unfolded."
Allan Kirkland Soga Lifetime Achiever	Allister Sparks		Prof Guy Berger: "This is a journalist whose life is a tribute to the philosophy that good South African journalism should be optimistic without becoming propagandistic.
Extraordinary contribution to newspaper journalism	Andriette Stofberg	Awarded posthumously	Prof Guy Berger: "This award was born from a special request by her colleagues who felt that they had for many years neglected to nominate her for the Lifetime Achiever Award, although she was a fitting candidate. She passed away in March after a brief but brave battle with liver cancer. This award, albeit posthumous, is a tribute to her contribution to newspaper journalism and society."
Print Media Fellowship	Prakash Desai		Tony Howard, Independent Newspapers CEO and PMSA VP: "It is most fitting that this year's award has gone to Prakash. He has been tireless in his efforts to ensure that the PMSA is constantly focused on its purpose and on the many and diverse challenges that face the print industry."

Story and Journalist of the Year

Left: Matuma Letsoalo (Mail & Guardian), winner of Investigative journalism

click to enlarge

The amaBhungane is the Mail & Guardian Centre for Investigative Journalism, is a non-profit initiative that aims to develop investigative journalism in the public interest. This initiative seeks to produce better investigative stories and to plough back into the profession through internships and advocacy. Sole and Brümmer are not new to the Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards winners' roll, having won the Investigative Journalism category in 2003.

Letsoalo (@MatumaLetsoalo) impressed judges when he single-handedly blew the lid off an important story relating to the corrupt business activities of Mrs Vavi. He was also the winner in the Investigative Journalism category for the same series of articles. Letsoalo demonstrated that even outside of an investigative team, an individual journalist can win honours by diligent persistence and high ethics.

The winners walked away with R15 000, a premier Mondi Shanduka nib trophy and framed certificate.

Allan Kirkland Soga Award

Centre: Allister Sparks, winner of the Allan Kirkland Soga Lifetime Achiever Award

click to enlarge

Sparks, a newspaper journalist for 60 years, was recognised for impeccable ethics, craft excellence and a sustained, extraordinary contribution to newspaper journalism. Sparks is no stranger to awards, having won the 1979 International Editor of the Year Award during his time as Rand Daily Mail editor, the 1963 Nieman Fellowship to Harvard and a nomination for the US Pulitzer Prize. His list of accolades is extensive.

He started his career in the Eastern Cape, his province of birth, with the Queenstown Daily, before working in the United Kingdom. He then moved to the Rand Daily Mail as its SA political correspondent, rising to become editor. Subsequently, he developed a second illustrious career as a correspondent for The Washington Post, The Observer, and NRC Handelsblad.

Sparks has shown an unwavering commitment to reporting quality news, and in 1992 he founded the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism (IAJ) in association in association with the Wits University to upgrade the standard of journalism in SA.

An author in his own right, Sparks has also published four books, including The Mind of South Africa, which won him the 1990 Sanlam Literary Award.

Extraordinary contribution to newspaper journalism

Stofberg, Beeld's former deputy editor who had been with the paper for 15 years, was highly respected for her commitment to quality and truth. Her outstanding journalism often set a new benchmark for quality hard news features in Afrikaans. During her tenure as news editor at Beeld, Stofberg opened her readers' minds to the world of SA politics during the political transition period of CODESA and subsequently the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

Print Media Fellowship

Desai, Avusa Media Ltd GCEO was honoured for his contribution to press freedom in SA. Championed by Print Media South Africa (PMSA), the accolade honours individuals for their integrity, determination and dedication to the betterment of the SA newspaper industry.

A chartered accountant by profession, Desai also holds the position of PMSA president. For the past decade, he has consistently played an important role in industry matters, serving and contributing to numerous boards representing both the newspaper industry and other sectors. These include the World Association of Newspapers and Newspaper Publishers (now WAN-IFRA), the Wits University Health consortium and the University of Venda Foundation.

One of his contributions was the initiation of discussions with the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) regarding industry concerns about the agency's role. He also introduced transformation as an agenda item at PMSA, requesting the industry to take up a strategic approach to BEE.

Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards

Category	Status	Journalists	Entry	Newspaper	Judges' comments
Hard news	Winner	Stephan Hofstatter & Mzilikazi wa Afrika	'Cele lied say his generals'; 'The R4m luxury home Cele made you pay for'; 'Bheki Cele's R500m dodgy rental deal'	Sunday Times	Choosing the best of the best hard news reports was difficult. While rewarding a report made the judges feel good, having to discard superbly written, carefully crafted and skilled reports - of which there were scores - made them feel awful.
Hard news	Finalist	Omphitlhetse Mooki	'Tale of SA's underworld characters' - Agliotti's hitman hated him - series	The Star
Hard news	Finalist	Gloria Edwards	Panjo series - 'Hond is Panjo se tier'; 'Panjo: "Ons is nou weer 'n familie"'; 'Panjo gaan eie Zingela kry'	Beeld
Hard news	Finalist	Angelique Serrao	'Lifestyle Audit' - Malema's millions	The Star
Hard news	Commended	Fanie van Rooyen	'Sy wou Blou Bull vermoor'	Beeld
Hard news	Commended	Kathryn Kimberley & Xolisa Mgwatyu	'In God's name'	Daily Dispatch
Hard news	Commended	Adriaan Basson, Babalwa Shota & Julian Jansen	'The Dewani Dossier'	City Press
Analysis, commentary & enterprise news	Winner	Samantha Reinders & Mara Kardas-Nelson	'Blood, sweat and water' series on acid mine drainage	Mail & Guardian	In this category it is nowadays hard to find well-researched and well-written articles that make a real difference in our understanding of a complicated and multi-faceted issue. But every now and then a story appears in the newspaper that clearly stands head and shoulders above the rest. The winning entry is one of those outstanding pieces of journalism on a difficult subject, and exactly what South Africa needs more of.
Analysis, commentary & enterprise news	Finalist	Ingi Salgado	'Umgeni - crocodile farm's meat tip reveals loopholes in Waste Act'; 'Dusi guts is sure sign of sewage system problems'; 'Sand mining takes its toll on pristine Inanda valley'	Business Report
Feature writing	Winner	Dana Snyman	'Ons roep hom Sello'	Beeld, Die Burger & Volksblad
Feature writing	Finalist	Charl Blignaut	'Yum yum, bubblegum'	Sunday Times	Judges' comment: "We looked for good choice of subject for a feature story, a strong introduction that was both apposite and grabbed readers, a strong focal point, and a variety of voices in the story. This we found in outstanding form in Dana Snyman's entry, which went way beyond catchy Malema headlines by doing the legwork to meet the community that raised him, and to present their experiences with dignity, respect and writing flair.
Feature writing	Finalist	Niren Tolsi	Fear and loathing in Obamaland'	Mail & Gaurdian
Feature writing	Finalist	Willemien Brummer	'Waar jou naelstring lê'	Die Burger
Feature writing	Commended	Murray la Vita	'Kuns=lewe=kuns'	Die Burger
Feature writing	Commended	Beauregard Tromp	'10 today... 'Miracle' Rosita is still a ray of hope'	The Star
Feature writing	Commended	Shaun Smillie	'A story of two boys'	The Star
Investigative journalism	Winner	Matuma Letsoalo	'Mrs Vavi, the pension fund and the R40 000 bribe'; 'Vavi-linked firm in new bribe scandal'; 'Car given to Vavi's sidekick'; 'Company hit by new scandal'; 'Police set to probe M&G 'briber''	Mail & Guardian	There was an overall high standard of investigations with a good spread between consumer probes, local government inquiries, and political investigations. The winning entry demonstrated that even outside of an investigative team, an individual journalist can win honours by diligent persistence and high ethics.
Investigative journalism	Finalist	Mzilikazi wa Afrika & Stephan Hofstatter	'Cele lied say his generals'; 'The R4m luxury home Cele made you pay for'; 'Bheki Cele's R500m dodgy rental deal'	Sunday Times
Investigative journalism	Finalist	Jacques Pauw	'We bust human trafficking ring'; 'Unlikely nexus of evil'; 'Women for sale - at R5,000'; 'How girls are lied to'; 'More sex ring members bust'; 'Misused, exploited, violated'	City Press
Investigative journalism	Finalist	Herman Scholtz	Frozen chicken horror - 'Die hoenders hou straks gesondheidsgevaar in'; 'Ou vleis, herverpak'; 'As Kiepie net 'n bietjie vriesband het, gaan sy terug mark toe'; 'Verwerking van vleis na vervaldatum heel wettig'; 'Chicken horror: new 'rotten' wings claim'; 'Hofbevel snoer oudwerker se mond'; 'Supreme will nog 'n werker muilband'; 'Supreme se verkope styg'	Rapport & City Press
Investigative journalism	Commended	Julian Rademeyer, Jacques Pauw & Andrew Trench	'ANC's mines grab'	City Press
Investigative journalism	Commended	Antoinette Pienaar	Series of investigations into 'Simply Slim' products	Beeld
Investigative journalism	Commended	Craig McKune	'Gaston Savoi and government officials corruption probe' series	Cape Times
Creative journalism	Winner	Willem Kempen & Louis Kruger	'As Mev. Ples op FB was...'	Beeld, Die Burger & Volksblad	This category failed to ignite much excitement among the judges. In this generally disappointing offering, Willem Kempen and Louis Kruger provided some relief with their creative contribution. We had asked for innovation and creativity - and Kempen and Kruger provided it. This was a fine example of how humour can be used in creative writing.
Creative journalism	Finalist	Nikiwe Bikitsha	'Hanging up my wig'	Mail & Guardian
Creative journalism	Finalist	Willem Kempen	'Sewe dae by die Kunene's: Aand 1'	Beeld
Creative journalism	Commended	Phumla Matjila	'Big Pimpin' in the township'	Sunday Times
Creative journalism	Commended	Katy Chance	Business Day
Editorial cartoons	Winner	Wilson Mgobhozi	'4 million babies!'; 'Self demolition'; 'ET's final fall 1944-2010'; 'One man, one wife'; 'Madiba's African Dream' and other entries	The Star	On the whole, we found the quality of entries excellent with a good variety of style. The country was also well-represented geographically, with all sectors represented. The winner's entries were clean, clear in their imagery, and original in their thought. They were funny and topical but above all, introduced new ways of rendering a subject that many others had also treated.
Editorial cartoons	Finalist	Jonathan 'Zapiro' Shapiro	'Zumaglue'; 'Feel it ... it is here!'; 'Evolution of Democracy'; 'Aids message'; 'On second thoughts'; 'Baby shower'	The Times and Mail & Guardian
Editorial cartoons	Finalist	Bethuel Mangena	Various entries, including 'Cape Town toilet controversy'	Sunday World
Graphical journalism	Winner	Rudi Louw	'2010 - All the newsmakers'	City Press	The winning portfolio of Rudi Louw showed variety in presentation - but all added value to the text, was easily understood and proved attractive to the reader. His review of 2010 gave the reader an overview of an event-filled year in an attractive and well thought-through format that clearly displayed the advantage of graphical journalism in distilling a lot of data into easy-to-understand bites of information.
Graphical journalism	Finalist	John McCann	'Cronin'; 'Horsemen'; 'Freedom under threat' and other entries	Mail & Guardian
Graphical journalism	Finalist	Morne Schaap	Various	Media24
Popular journalism	Winner	Yolanda Barnard	'Liefdeskind'	Sondag	Yolanda Barnard writes with typical tabloid flair and pushes all the popular Afrikaans language buttons to draw her readers into this on-going family intrigue.
Popular journalism	Withdrawn	The entries for which Prince Chauke achieved finalist status were withdrawn by Sunday Sun.
News photographs	Winner	Judy de Vega	'Pensioners caught in protest crossfire chaos'	The Herald	The judging process was not an easy one as there were many strong photographic stories and single images. The winning photograph by Judy de Vega not only captures the news event itself and reflects the incredible closeness and courage of the photographer, but also shows that in situations which might feel life-threatening, we all feel the same fear and vulnerability, and are stripped of prejudice around age, race and religion.
News photographs	Finalist	Felix Dlangamandla	'Delivery' - 'n Man lei skool kinders verby klipgooiers tydens 'n diens leweringsbetoging in Orange Farm, suid van Johannesburg'	Beeld & Rapport
News photographs	Commended	Paballo Thekiso	'Rescued babies'	Saturday Star
News photographs	Commended	Cornel van Heerden	'Panjo'	Foto24
News photographs	Commended	James Oatway	Haiti	Sunday Times
Feature photographs	Winner	Cornel van Heerden	'Hier is ET doodgekap'	Foto24	We made our selection by looking beyond the surface of the photograph. The picture by Cornel van Heerden of the bedroom of murdered right-winger Eugene Terre'blanche was selected as the winner even though there are no people in this photograph. It is incredibly descriptive in its detail - thereby leaving space for the viewer's imagination ... the stain on the bed ...the walking stick ... the broken material of the chair.
Feature photographs	Finalist	Herman Verwey	'Piet se laaste dossier'	Beeld
Feature photographs	Finalist	Phill Magakoe	'Knights of the city - Pretoria's heroes in blue'	Pretoria News
Feature photographs	Finalist	Alon Skuy	'Back to nature'	The Times
Feature photographs	Finalist	Theana Breugem	'Ratte'	Beeld
Feature photographs	Finalist	Deaan Vivier	'JZ moes dalk kantoor soek in die mis'	Foto24
Feature photographs	Commended	Alet Pretorius	'Mnr & Mej Dwergiefees'	Foto24, Beeld, Die Burger, Volksblad & Rapport
Feature photographs	Commended	Cornel van Heerden	'SA Rodeo' series	Foto24
Sports photographs	Winner	Alon Skuy	'Hand of devil'	The Times	In this category, we were not only looking for the significant action moment or the traditionally photographed sports events, we were also looking for the most powerful or somewhat quieter moments. The winning photograph by Alon Skuy is an incredible photograph capturing a moment which had such significance to the 2010 FIFA World Cup: Luis Suarez's notorious 'hand of devil' save for Uruguay against Ghana in the tournament's quarterfinal.
Sports photographs	Finalist	Herman Verwey	'Rand van ewigheid'	Rapport
Sports photographs	Finalist	Antoine de Ras	'Just for kicks'	The Star
Sports photographs	Finalist	Deaan Vivier	'Totaal verslae'	Foto24, Beeld, Die Burger, Volksblad & Rapport
Presentation (layout & design)	Winner	Andries Gouws	'Bafana at the World Cup'; 'It was here'; 'Diego's dance'	Beeld	The winning portfolio entry by Andries Gouws combined compelling headlines with the use of strong pictures - well-chosen and defining .moments of the story - to develop a narrative in support of the text
Presentation (layout & design)	Finalist	Debbie van der Merwe	'Student word meester'; 'Padkaart van die lewe'; 'Kleur jou lewe groen'	Rapport
Presentation (layout & design)	Finalist	Nina Clark	'How Australopithecus Sediba fits in'	The Star
Journalism Twenty-ten	Winner	Sameer Naik	'The best World Cup ever'	Saturday Star	Sameer Naik won for dealing with the soccer spectacle in the way that covered a wide area of the phenomenon that 2010 was," noted the judges. They found that Naik not only went out and spoke to people, but did analysis and backgrounders on different areas of the Cup. "It is a body of work that truly speaks of the spectacle that 2010 was, and accordingly deserves to win.
Journalism Twenty-ten	Finalist	Niren Tolsi	'Field of shattered dreams'; 'Lebo M's non-performance'; 'Tale of Two Cups'; 'Mainlining the rainbow'	Mail & Guardian

Winners were chosen from a total of 706 entries and 42 finalists across the 13 categories. Entries increased impressively from last year, coming from a total of 37 newspapers. The category with the most entries was News Photographs with 125 submissions, while Presentation received the least with 22. The publications with the most winners this year are Beeld and Mail & Guardian.

Rhodes University's Professor Guy Berger convened a judging panel consisting of former editors and senior journalists with prominent records in South African journalism: Peter Sullivan, Mike Siluma, Adrienne Sichel, Pippa Green, Jodi Bieber, Joe Latakgomo, Tyrone August, David Wightman, Juby Mayet, Liesl Louw, Mathatha Tsedu, Tumi Makgabo, Paula Fray and Arrie Rossouw.

Frewin Award (recognises urban daily newspapers with a circulation above 50 000)

Status	Newspaper	Judges' comments
Winner	Beeld	Classic, conservative and colourful
Runner-up	Die Burger
Commended	Cape Argus

McCall Award (honours daily newspapers with a circulation of 50 000 or less)

Status	Newspaper	Judges' comments
Winner	Volksblad	Elegant, modern yet classical in style
Runner-up	The Mercury
Commended	Daily News
Commended	The Witness

Joel Mervis Award (recognises urban daily newspapers irrespective of their circulation)

Status	Newspaper	Judges' comments
Winner	Mail & Guardian	A quest for excellence; a newspaper for people who love reading.
Runner-up	City Press
Commended	Rapport
Commended	Sunday Independent
Commended	Naweek Beeld

Although judges reported stiff competition, there were three clear winners. The Frewin, Joel Mervis and McCall competitions, which are collectively more than 120 years old, recognise newspaper excellence in advertising, printing and production, layout and typography as well as balance between the use of pictures and graphics.

Convenor of judges and creative faculty head of the AAA School of Advertising, Clive Loxton, said: "Even though there was stiff competition, three clear winners emerged. We congratulate these winners, who we are proud to reward for going to extraordinary lengths in achieving an end result that can compete anywhere in the world."

Joining Loxton on the judging panel were Linda Rademan, AAA School of Advertising lecturer; Logan Naidu, MAPPP-SETA learnerships and apprenticeships specialist; and Tebogo Serobatse, National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa (NEMISA) head of department.

* The Allan Kirkland Soga award is named after an admirable South African journalist, who served as editor of Izwi Labantu (Voice of the People) between 1898 and 1908. Kirkland Soga is remembered for the journalistic credo he promoted: "Gainst the wrong that needs resistance; for the good that lacks assistance."

View our gallery section for winners receiving their awards.