Former Muslim News editor and renowned writer and poet, James Matthews was named the Allan Kirkland Soga Lifetime Achiever Award, while The Citizen photographer, Jacques Nelles, was named Upcoming/Rising Star, for his "Picture of parachute: The moon walk”.
All the winners received R15,000, a trophy and a certificate while all finalists received certificates. Commendation certificates are awarded at the judges’ discretion.
| Hard news | ||
| Winners | Title | Company |
| Yolande Stander, Lee-Anne Butler, Angela Daniels, Gareth Wilson, Hendrick Mphande | “Knysna Burns” | The Herald |
| Columns/Editorial | ||
| Laura Lopez Gonzalez | “Does evil cast a long shadow?” | Bhekisisa / Mail & Guardian |
| Enterprise news | ||
| Bongani Fuzile | “We found them” (Miners) | Saturday Dispatch |
| Feature writing | ||
| Lucas Ledwaba | Body of work (“The last people stand alone in the face of platinum’s bulldozers”, “A new Lady Selborne is rising from apartheid’s ashes”, “A township obliterates a rural life bulldozed by apartheid”) | Mail & Guardian |
| Investigative journalism | ||
| Antoinette Muller; Branko Brkic; Pauli van Wyk; Adriaan Basson; Richard Poplak; Adi Eyal; Micah Reddy; Susan Comrie; Angelique Serrao; Stefaans Brümmer; Marianne Thamm; Sam Sole; Tabelo Timse; Pieter-Louis Myburgh; Craig McKune; Lionel Faull; Rebecca Davis; Sally Evans; Lester Freamon | “Gupta leaks” (State Capture) | Daily Maverick/Amabhungane/News 24 |
| Editorial cartoons | ||
| Jonathan Shapiro | Body of work; “Political Business “ | Sunday Times /Daily Maverick |
| Graphic journalism | ||
| Jaco Grobbelaar | “The life and times of OR Tambo” | Graphics 24, for City Press |
| Popular journalism | ||
| Angelique Serrao; Pieter du Toit | “Markus Jooste, the blonde polo player and a room with a view” | News 24/ Huffington Post |
| News photographs | ||
| Bongani Shilubane | “Scramble to register” | Pretoria News |
| Feature photographs | ||
| Esa Alexander | “Drought and the big thirst” | The Times |
| Sports photographs | ||
| Ettienne Van Rensburg | “Half and half” | Vaalweekblad |
| Presentation | ||
| Theuns Kruger | “Kop aan kop” | Graphics 24 for Beeld |
| Multiplatform | ||
| Elsabé Brits; Rudi Louw; Le Roux Schoeman | “Chris Barnard: Die lewe nalatenskap van ’n mediese pionier” | Netwerk 24 |
The Frewin Award, which recognises urban daily newspapers with a circulation above 40,000, went to Die Burger with Beeld the runner-up. Commended went to the Daily Sun.
Mail and Guardian was awarded the McCall Award, which honours urban daily newspapers with a circulation of 40,000 or less. The Witness was the runner-up and Pretoria News took commended.
The Joel Mervis Award recognises urban weekly newspapers irrespective of their circulation and a joint award went to Rapport and City Press. Runner-up is Naweek Beeld with Sunday Sun taking commended.
Commenting on the awards, convener of judges, Clive Loxton, says the awards recognise a quest for excellence.
They recognise craftsmanship, attention to detail and 'going the extra mile'. We commend the shareholders for their bravery and not inconsiderable investment; in both time and money, to produce a result South Africa can be proud of.He adds that the competition was very fierce in all three categories.
"I’d like to thank my fellow judges – Logan Naidu, Tebogo Serabatse and Linda Rademan – all recognised experts in their fields, for their valuable contribution as well as the PSS for their faultless organisation of the judging set-up,” concluded Loxton.
The 2018 judging panel included Dinesh Balliah, Gus Silber, Latiefa Mobara, Mike Siluma, Tyrone August, Phil Mthimkhulu, Pippa Green, Mary Papayya, Neo Ntsoma, Lizeka Mda, Ryland Fisher, Thabo Leshilo, and Liesl Louw-Vaudran.
Follow the #SBSJA18 hashtag for the latest updates.
