Women of the Year: Judges Announced

​The names of the judges who will select this year's Shoprite Checkers Women of the Year, have been announced.

Chaired by High Court Judge, Lucy Mailula, the panel of 16 high-profile South Africans will meet in June 2012. Two rounds of adjudication will be held to determine the category finalists and winners. They will be selected via a process of personal interviews.

The categories of the Award have been selected very carefully to look at some of the social and economic issues that will impact positively on the future of the country. South Africans nominated women who make our nation proud in five categories, namely: Health Care-Givers; Educators; Socio-Economic Business Developers; Good Neighbours Against Crime and Youth Movers.

• The category for Health-Care Givers is chaired by Prof Angela Mathee. She is a renowned academic who has widely published in the field of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Prof Mathee will be assisted by Prof Pauline Kuzwayo who has worked extensively in the area of nutrition policy development with specific focus on nutrition programmes targeted at women and children and people living with HIV/Aids and Dr Petro Terblanche who has a track record in the successful translation of research into innovation in the field of environmental health.


• In the Educators category Prof Teboho Moja, who has served as Special Advisor to two Ministers of Education in South Africa is the chairperson. The other two panel members are Prof Sarah (“Saartjie”) Gravett, Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Johannesburg and Dr Gcina Mhlophe-Becker who is one of the most prominent storytellers in South Africa.


• The chairperson in the Socio-Economic Business Developers category is Adv. Pansy Tlakula who is the Chief Electoral Officer of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). She is assisted by Mr Mokgethi Tshabalala the CEO of Thebe Foundation, a non-profit foundation with the aim to provide solutions for social and environmental problems and Ms Suzanne Styles, an entrepreneur who has owned or run an eclectic portfolio of business for over 25 years.


• The judging panel of the Neighbours Against Crime category is chaired by Prof Elrena van der Spuy who is a member of the Centre of Criminology and Associate-Professor at the Department of Public Law at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She is assisted by Ms Koo Govender, Director of Corporate Marketing & Communication at M-Net and Ms Bilkis Omar the Chief Director of the Policy and Research Unit of the Civilian Secretariat for Police.


• The chairperson of the Youth Movers category is Mr Thebe Ikalafeng, one of South Africa’s top marketers who has been recognised nationally and internationally in the marketing industry. He is assisted by Mr Vaughn Bishop, the man who conceptualised and manages the award winning Let’s Play campaign which has been recognised as the best CSI initiative in South Africa and Ms Elana Meyer CEO of the JAG Sports and Education Foundation and former South African long-distance runner who won the silver medal in the 10 000 m event at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics.

Through this Award the Shoprite Group wants to focus the attention of the people of South Africa on finding solutions for those critical matters affecting the nation’s future. The winners will be awarded with individual prize money and they will also be given R100 000 towards the work they do for a better future.

To ensure sustainability of this work the Shoprite Checkers Women of the Year Award has partnered with the WHEAT Women’s Fund to help the winners manage the investment of the R100 000 for their project.

The WHEAT Women’s Fund is an organisation committed to achieving gender justice through supporting grassroots women’s initiatives with investments, skills training and technical support. They help community-based organisations and projects to implement their outreach efforts and encourage accountability and good governance.

Furthermore the Shoprite Checkers Women of the Year Award will honour an esteemed South African whom during her or his lifetime has inspired generations.

Members of the public will also be asked to vote for the women they believe deserving of winning in the various categories once the finalists’ work are profiled in the media. The public voting will account for 30% of the final score although the judges’ decision will be final.

The category finalists will be announced on Wednesday, 04 July 2012 while the winners in each category will be announced on Saturday, 21 July 2012 at a spectacular gala evening at Emperor’s Palace in Gauteng.

This dazzling event will be broadcast on Wednesday, 8 August 2012 on Mzansi Magic, DSTV. The programme will be re-broadcast the following day on Women’s Day, 09 August 2012.