This, after Journalist Olebogeng Motse and Josca Human were recognised for their outstanding work and came out victorious in the 2018 Vodacom Awards held last night at the Protea Hotel, Willow Lake in Bloemfontein. While, Motse walked away with the Best Young Journalist Award in Central South Africa for her stories about the water crisis faced by the community of Jagersfontein in the Free State amongst other stories, Human got recognition for her live reports on breaking news. These includes her coverage on the tragic Kroonstad train crash where more than 850 people were involved and 24 people lost their lives at the beginning of the year. Human was among the first Journalists to arrive at the accident scene and reported on the accident extensively.

The two will be amongst all the regional winners who will soon be partaking in the national awards.

The theme for these hotly contested awards were themed “The Pen in Mightier than the Sword”. The criteria for judging entailed searching for entries that could possibly make the cut for the national finals, and the overall prize of R 100 000 for the Journalist of the Year Award.

The revised categories for the 2018 were: Live reporting/breaking news, Investigative, Opinion, Lifestyle, Photography, Sport, Economics, Politics, CSI, Data Journalism, Multi-platform, and the Young Journalist of the Year Award.

The winners in the other categories included:

Sport: Andre Damons (Volksblad; CSI/sustainability: Charles Smith and Mlungisi Louw (Volksblad); Live reporting: Reginald Witbooi (SABC Morning Live); Politics: Tabelo Timse (Amabhungane); Investigative Journalism: Puleng Modupe (SABC News); Photography: Mlungisi Louw (Volksblad); Lifestyle/Feature: Charles Smith (Volksblad) and Financial economics: Ulrich Hendriks (SABC).

All winners in the regional category took home R 5 000 each, accept for Motse who will now compete in the national round for an opportunity to win an all-expenses-paid overseas trip and visit to the Thomson Foundation.

The national category winners will receive R 10 000 each, while the coveted national accolade of Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award winner will receive R 100 000.

In 2017, two OFM News’ journalists were also recognised for the outstanding work they do and represented the team during national awards that were held in Johannesburg on November 16.

OFM News' Katleho Morapela scooped the Best Young Journalist Award and competed in the national round for an opportunity to win an all-expenses-paid overseas trip, while the multi award winning Earl Coetzee walked away with the Radio Feature Award on his insert on State Capture Fallout.

OFM News