Mon Jun 14 12:19:00 UTC 2004
The nationwide nomination process for this year’s Shoprite Checkers / SABC 2 Women of the Year Award drew to a close on Friday, 21 May 2004 and the panel of judges, comprising 29 high profile South Africans, is now gearing up for the challenge of selecting the most exceptional women in the country.
This month’s judging sessions (June 2004) will see two rounds of personal interviews chaired by High Court Judge, Lucy Mailula, to determine finalists in the Award’s categories of Arts & Culture, Business Entrepreneurship, Community Affairs, Education, Health, Media & Communications, Science & Technology and Sport, as well as the Award’s new category of Social Services.
The Arts & Culture category will once again be chaired by recording artist, executive director of Kippies Jazz Club and youth musician promoter, Sipho Mabuse. Newcomer to the judging of this category is 2003 Shoprite Checkers / SABC Arts & Culture category finalist, Mimi Coertse, who is an internationally recognised opera diva and founder of the Black Tie Ensemble. Joining them is businesswoman, dedicated charity worker and one of Africa’s most successful artists, Yvonne Chaka Chaka.
The top women Business Entrepreneurs will this year be determined by chair judge and CEO of Eskom’s Development Foundation, Mabel Makibelo. Ms Makibelo will be joined by fellow newcomers Herbert Mkhize, Executive Director of the National Economic Development & Labour Council (NEDLAC), and Tim Modise, veteran radio/TV journalist and chairman of Proudly South African.
The Community Affairs category will be chaired by Diane Terblanche, currently with the Competition Commission of South Africa, and founder and former CEO of the Consumer Institute of South Africa. Laura Joyce Kganyago, who is the director of the Women’s National Coalition, will assist her alongside Tembeka Nkamba-van Wyk, founder of Talking Beads and Business Entrepreneurs category winner of the 2000 Shoprite Checkers / SABC 2 Women of the year Award.
Chairperson of the Education category, Professor Teboho Moja from New York University, will again be joined by Star School founder and pioneer of the highly acclaimed Liberty Learning Channel on SABC 3, William Smith. Newcomer Professor Veronica McKay is director of the Institute of Adult Basic Education (ABET) at the University of South Africa and Education category winner in the 2000 Shoprite Checkers / SABC 2 Women of the Year Award.
Chairperson of the Health category is Professor Somarie Grey, former assistant to Nobel Prize winner for Medicine in 1960, Sir Peter Medaware and Deputy Dean of Health Sciences at the University of Pretoria. Joining her are Professor Pauline Kuzwayo, associate professor and acting head of the department of Human Nutrition at MEDUNSA, and Sister Lilian Leistner, who apart from being a health consultant and talk show host, founded a centre in Pretoria for midwifery, child rearing advice and health education services.
Chairing the Media & Communications category for the first time is Chairperson of the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) and SABC Board member, Kanyi Mkonza. Ms Mkonza will be supported by Denis Beckett, well-known journalist, talk-show host and author, and Deline Beukes, Executive Director of the Advertising Standards Authority of SA.
The new chair of the Science & Technology category is Executive Director of the Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research Programme at the Human Sciences Research Council, Dr Olive Shisana. Assisting Dr Shisana are former SA Bureau of Standards (SABS) President and CEO, Eugene Julies, and Dr Wilkie Kambule, renowned educator and recipient of numerous honorary doctorates.
Chairing the new category of Social Services is Sunday Times people columnist, Gwen Gill, who helped fan the consumer movement for 11 years. Given the enormity of this new category, she will be supported by three judges. They are Mrs Dukie Mothiba, National Director of FAMSA (the Family and Marriage Society of South Africa), Rev Dr Joseph Tshawane, CEO of the King Luthuli Transformation Centre and founding member of the World Council of Religious Leaders at the United Nations, as well as André Kalis, National Director of the SA National Council for Child Welfare.
The Sports category will be chaired by Ntambi Ravele, initiator and chairperson of the Women and Sport SA project at the Department of Sport and Recreation. Ms Ravele will combine her expertise with Peta Kaplan, President of the United School Sport Association of South Africa Aquatics, and Professor Tim Noakes, world-renowned sports health expert heading up the Sports Science Institute of South Africa.
The winners will be announced during a gala event at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Thursday, 29 July 2004. The event will be broadcast by SABC 2 on National Women’s Day, Monday 9 August 2004. The 27 finalists and the judges will be flown to Cape Town courtesy of South African Airways, where they will stay at the Table Bay Hotel, courtesy of Sun International.