The Herald, Weekend Post scoop awards at regional Vodacom Journalist of the Year ceremony

Six Nelson Mandela Bay journalists were celebrated for their achievements in the Eastern Region’s Vodacom Journalist of the Year Awards on Monday evening.

During the virtual ceremony, the team from The Herald and Weekend Post walked away with three awards and automatic entries to compete against other regions for national titles in their respective fields.

The team also boasts the Eastern Region’s only entry into the Young Journalist of the Year Award, Zamandulo Malonde, who will compete for the opportunity to travel abroad and experience newsrooms in other parts of the world.

In the politics category, the team of Michael Kimberley and Nomazima Nkosi won for exposing the instability, court cases, staged kidnappings and claims of bribery that preceded the election of Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Nqaba Bhanga for a second term.

All of these underhanded tactics came to light in their series of articles titled “Electing a Mayor”.

The award for breaking news went to Devon Koen and Annelisa Swana for “Terror on the Tracks”, detailing the violent events at the Fairview Racecourse when wage disputes led disgruntled workers to open the stable doors, attacking race horses while they ran wild across the tracks.

Werner Hills walked away with the photography award for his collection of pictures, titled “The Swarm”, showing the havoc wreaked by billions of locusts as they descended on already drought-stricken Karoo farms.

Herald and Weekend Post editor Rochelle de Kock commended the team for their outstanding efforts and dedication in showing the importance of good journalism in modern society.

“At a time when journalism is under attack, it is moments like this, when our craft is celebrated, that make it all worthwhile.

“It shows that the work that our teams put into telling the news — be it through live reporting through social media, digital platforms, videos, photographs and, of course, print journalism — is seen.

“The best kind of journalism does not only inform and educate the public, it also ultimately effects change, and that is what our team strives to do every single day for our audiences.”

She congratulated not only the winners who scooped these coveted awards, but every person who works alongside them, and behind the scenes, to produce excellent and responsible journalism.