THE VODACOM JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR 2005 AWARD WINNER

It was a momentous occasion for Mandla Khwela who had already achieved success by winning in the Non-Commercial Media category in the KZN Regional awards. On Sunday 2 October he added the national finals to his success and won R10 000.

In receiving his reward the judges commented that " Community media at grass-roots level has an incredible challenge to focus on issues and events that impact on the lives of ordinary people. The further away we are from the urban epicentre of news and information, the harder it becomes to define and unpack the real issues, the human suffering and the tragic consequences.

It is, therefore, important that community journalists be accorded the relevant and credible validation for focussing on the stories often relegated to the backbenchers of the news calendar. Our winner in this category towered above all in this category and showed compassion, courage and integrity. For an exemplary focus on the disabled people of our rural communities, the winner is Mandla Khwela from Radio Khwezi".

Mandla is a blind person who produces and presents a program for the disabled that plays twice a week. He is also a valuable member of the human resources committee at Radio Khwezi.