Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards: 2020 winners announced!

Pauli van Wyk was named Journalist of the Year, at this year’s virtual Standard Bank Sikuvile Awards, for “Cruising Nicely on VBS Money”, which together with her “The Elements of a Bank Heist” made up the body of work that was named South African Story of the Year. Both were for Scorpio and Daily Maverick. Van Wyk also won the Investigative Journalism category with “Cruising Nicely on VBS Money”.

A challenging story

Commenting on the story she says it was a challenging story. “It required technical analysis and a difficult investigation to conclude and I am proud that I was able to do it and in the way I did it.”

She adds that journalism is one of the pillars of democracy. “Thank you, Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards for helping us to strengthen journalism.”

Last year VBS also won with City Press journalists Dewald van Rensburg and Sipho Masondo winning Journalist of the Year and South African Story of the Year for their breaking of the VBS scandal.

Allan Kirkland Soga Lifetime Achiever Award

The Allan Kirkland Soga Lifetime Achiever Award went to anti-Apartheid and trade union movements journalist, Zubeida Jaffer, who was arrested numerous times in the 1980s, after she exposed police killings, and held in solitary confinement, tortured and beaten. In 1994 Jaffer was a member of the Independent Media Commission for South Africa’s first democratic elections. She worked at Independent Newspapers and the Daily News.

Accepting the Award, Jaffer said that their generation of journalists did what they had to do when they had to do it. Talking about journalism today she says:

Journalists have to continue to clear the cobwebs and share both the good and bad of our amazing country and nurture the hope that can help us continue to trudge up the steep mountains ahead. We have done it before and can do it again.

Upcoming/Rising Star of the Year

Brümilda Swartbooi of the Worcester Standard was named Upcoming/Rising Star of the Year for “Sy het hard vir ons gewerk.” She says she wrote the story to highlight the innocent people being killed and the loss of this for the family. “One of the victim’s husband told me in an interview that he dropped his wife off every morning, and he never thought that she would be killed minutes after this.”

She would like to be remembered as a brave and hardworking journalist. “I have learnt that you never shy away from a story that is of public interest and that needs to be told, instead you find an open door to tell it. “

Winning the Award has motivated her in her career even more she adds. “I hope it will also be an inspiration to aspiring journalists.”

No bursary for a mid-career journalist was awarded as no nominations had been received.