The South African National Parks (SANPARKS) Kudu Awards is an initiative aimed at celebrating the successes and contributions of individuals and groups in Conservation Management in South Africa.
Senior Reporter, Silindelo Masikane walked away with the Best Television News Coverage Award and Crime Watch presenter, Yusuf Abramjee received the Best In-depth Television News Feature Award at the Kudu Awards ceremony held on Thursday, 24 November in Johannesburg.
In the citation given to Masikane, she was acknowledged for her ‘tireless research and reporting on stories both in the Kruger Park and Mpumalanga’ and for bringing ‘under-reported stories to the notice of eNCA’s audience’.
The body of work that earned her this Award included how SANPARKS dealt with the COVID-19 lockdown, the impact on the environment and their tourism recovery plan, rhino poaching and the monitoring of the local elephant population.
‘As a lover of nature and someone who enjoys being in the wild, I have a vested interest in protecting this space. Conservation and environmental issues are rarely given the focus it deserves and in the past eight years of reporting on these issues, I have been on a mission to change this. Conservation matters because it helps grow our economy through eco-tourism, contributes to job creation and makes our world a beautiful place. I am proud to receive this Award and hope that it will encourage other journalists to also fly the conservation flag.’ said Masikane.
On presenting the Award to Abramjee, SANPARKS said that it was ‘in recognition of his in-depth programmes around rhino and elephant poaching, both in the Kruger National Park and Pilanesberg area.
These well-researched and investigative documentaries go a long way to highlighting this vital issue to a broad audience’
‘We all have to join hands and fight the rhino poaching scourge. I am happy that our series of shows on Crime Watch placed a spotlight on the problem and highlighted what SANPARKS and others are doing. I am honoured and humbled to receive this Award’, said Abramjee.
In addition to receiving the Kudu Award, Abramjee, together with fellow eNCA journalists Heidi Giokos, Masego Rahlaga and Devi Sankaree Govender, received the ‘Sponsors of Brave’ award that was hosted in October by Adcock Ingram QTC, an international pharmaceutical company.
“News content is multi-faceted and our journalists constantly show their versatility through the stories they tell. The Kudu Awards emphasises the importance of going beyond our daily news coverage to focus environmental and conservation news. These are issues that matter to our audience and having both Slindelo and Yusuf recognised for their contribution shows that we take these issues seriously. On behalf of the eNCA family, I congratulate Slindelo, Yusuf, Heidi, Masego and Devi Sankaree and thank them for their meaningful contribution.” says John Bailey, Managing Editor of eNCA.