At a celebration of the country’s best works of journalism, held in Johannesburg over the weekend, CapeTowner reporter Tamlynne Thompson was recognised for her story about transgender sex workers in Cape Town.
Tamlynne’s story “Women speak out” (CapeTowner, August 15, 2018) was a finalist in the category for popular journalism in the 2019 Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards.
This category was ultimately won by Sunday Sun journalist Mhie Silangwe for her story “Zuma’s wife disowned”, with City Press Journalists Dewald van Rensburg and Sipho Masondo being named Journalists of the Year for their stories on VBS, which also won them the South African Story of the Year award.
While convening judge Mathatha Tsedu was unable to attend the glittering ceremony held at The Venue at Melrose Arch, he said in a statement issued afterwards that, unlike last year, when one major story dominated the headlines, this year there had been a variety of stories in the running for the title of South African Story of the Year. “A lot of discussion took place around these during the judging period,” he said.
“In general, all the categories have good entries, except for sports photography where no award was given.”
Chantel Erfort, editor of Cape Community Newspapers (CCN), which publishes CapeTowner and its 14 sister titles, said having a community story featuring in the finals of a national competition was testament to the power of community newspapers and the importance of telling hyper-local stories. “We are incredibly proud of Tamlynne for tackling such a nuanced issue and writing about it with such care and sensitivity,” she said.
Tamlynne added that she was proud to have represented CCN at a national competition. “Giving the unheard a voice is why community news is important,” she said.
All the category winners were rewarded with R15 000, a trophy and a certicate.