South Africa’s top journalists were recognised for their work at the prestigious Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards hosted at the Wanderers Club in Johannesburg on Wednesday night.
Mail & Guardian journalists Sam Sole, Stefaans Brümmer and Adriaan Basson earned second place in the Investigative Journalism category for Arms firm did give cash to ANC, while the top award in the section was presented to the Daily Dispatch for the article, Killer water in the Ukhahlamba District Municipality. Their 34-page entry told the story of how scores of babies died in the Eastern Cape as a result of government negligence, incompetence and cover-up.
The judging panel, led by Professor Guy Berger, head of Rhodes University’s School of Journalism and Media Studies, said there was no shortage of high-quality work to choose from in selecting this year’s winners.
“It was very clear that had the winning entries not been there, we would not have been left empty-handed. Far from it: other entries would have completely deserved to be given the leading place. And if these others had not been submitted, there would still have been yet another layer with legitimate claim to being the best entries.”
He said that South Africa is lucky to have the cadre of professionals that it has. “Indeed, at a time when lay-offs are troubling the industry, these journalists underline the importance of the fourth estate to a true democracy.”
Now in its eighth year, the theme of this year’s competition was “The obvious is the enemy” and featured 601 entries from 37 South African newspapers.
Cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro’s Rape of Justice and Xenophobia Flag which appeared in both the Sunday Times and Mail & Guardian earned him a win in the Graphical Journalism category.
“The judges did not necessarily endorse the sentiments of the controversial Rape of Justice cartoon, but acknowledged it is an outstandingly powerful visual statement that had been deliberately designed to elicit enormous reaction.”
Mail &Guardian’s Jacqueline Steeneveldt, Ricky Hunt and Sukasha Singh won the Presentation and Layout category for their Mob Nation series.
“Big stories call for special design, and the leading entries rose to the challenge with striking front pages and good follow-through,” the judging panel said.
Commenting on the achievements of the team, M&G editor Nic Dawes said: “I am particularly pleased and proud that our young team of sub-editors were recognised for their exceptional work on the “mob nation” edition, dealing with last year’s xenophobic attacks. The care and clarity of their layout work allowed their colleagues’ writing and photographs to speak to readers about a truly awful episode in our national life with real power. That the work of our investigative team on the arms deal was once again cited is further confirmation that their willingness to plumb the poisoned well of South African politics is a crucial contribution to the constitutional duties of the media.”
The prize winners were presented with a Mondi Shanduka Premier Award of R15 000 cash, a trophy and a certificate.