The Department of Sport and Recreation South Africa held a breakfast at the SABC M1 studios to announce the nominees for this year’s Sport Awards. As the Sport Awards celebrates its 10th year, the theme is “Excellence is not being your best; it is doing your best”.
“This is a significant milestone and we’re celebrating the best sporting moments of the past 10 years, best moments of the Sport Awards and the best sport people that this country has produced,” said Minister Fikile Mbalula. Every year the SA Sport Awards adopts a creative theme which is used to rally support and excitement. “We’ve gone with #IZINJAZEGAME… The Best for 2015. The majority of South Africans can identify with this colloquial phrase which, loosely translated, means that you are the top dog, the best at what you do. Our nominees are the best”.
The venue for the 2015 SA Sport Awards will be the Sand du Plessis Theatre, Mangaung. “The Sport Awards celebrate excellence throughout the country and taking the event to the people is a critical part of our mandate. We are excited and promise the people of Mangaung a celebration,” said Minister Mbalula. A fan park at Seisa Ramabodu Stadium will ensure that the public participate in the festivities of the Sport Awards.
This year’s Awards will bring pleasant changes to the most contested category. The Sports Star of the Year Category will now be nominated and voted for by a panel of sport editors from different media houses. “We have listened to some of the feedback over the years and believe that this change will solidify the awards further and ensures its legacy,” said Minister Mbalula. Each media house will nominate two sport stars and motivate their recommendation, the panel will then vote for the ultimate winner of the highly contested position of the Sports Star of the Year 2015.
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The public still gets an opportunity to vote for their favourite sport star by way of SMS. This category is the People’s Choice Award. The nominees for the 2015 People’s Choice Award are, in alphabetical order, AB De Villiers; Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio; Chad le Clos; Lucas Sithole and Wayde van Niekerk. The full nominees list is attached.
Each category nominee receives R15 000 cash and the winner in each category receives R130 000. The winner for the Sport Star of the Year receives a luxury vehicle, R500 000 for themselves and R500 000 to donate to a charity of their choice. The People’s Choice Award winner also receives a luxury vehicle, R500 000 for themselves and R500 000 to donate to a charity of their choice.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is once again the official broadcaster of the SA Sport Awards. Group chief executive officer, Mr Frans Matlala said: “We are proud that as a public service broadcaster, we will be able to take our viewers and listeners on a journey towards these prestigious awards, which aim to recognise and reward our sporting champions and icons. It was important that we play a vital role in the nominee’s launch, by broadcasting it live on our SABC 2 platform Morning Live. The SABC will also profile the nominees and let them tell their stories through interviews on our various radio stations; so that we can inspire the youth and showcase that it is possible to succeed in life through sports”.
“Our sporting heroes continue to make us proud and the Sport Awards gives us all an opportunity to pay tribute to those who excel both on and off the field. We’re always inspired by our athletes as they continue to push boundaries and reach new heights of excellence,” said Minister Mbalula.
The Awards will take place on Sunday 22 November 2015 in Mangaung and will be broadcast live on SABC 1 at 20:00. Supersport will receive a feed.
