South Africa, June 17 -- Hundreds of entries This year's competition attracted more than 400 entries from journalists and media practitioners across South Africa. See finalists here.

The Journalist of the Year category will be contested by Sandile Ndlovu of TimesLIVE, Jeff Wicks and Sikonathi Mantshantsha of News24, and Cleopatra Jones of SABC's Cutting Edge. Meanwhile, Our City News made a particularly strong showing in the Rising Star category, accounting for three of the five finalists: Karabelo Phakoe, Kofi Zwana and Cwenga Kotu Rammopo.

The judging panels described the 2026 competition as one of the most fiercely contested in recent years, with the overall quality of submissions surpassing previous editions of the awards. In sever...