Prestigious prize for Sowetan duo
Award for exposé of ‘School of Horror’
Sowetan Limpopo senior journalist Frank Maponya and photo-journalist Sandile Ndlovu last night walked away with a prestigious Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards 2017 honour in Johannesburg.
This following their exposé last year about the plight of pupils at the Mpepule Primary School in Lephalale, Limpopo.
Dubbed “School of Horror”, the story by Maponya, Sowetan Limpopo Bureau Chief, and Ndlovu, a senior photographer, detailed how the pupils and teachers used the school’s three dilapidated classrooms for lessons and as sleeping quarters at night.
Pupils as young as five stayed at the school because there was no transport to take them home after school.
The exposé resulted in the Limpopo department of education shutting down the school and moving pupils to other schools in the province.
Sowetan and Sunday World editor-in-chief Philani Mgwaba congratulated Maponya and Ndlovu for the accolades, saying the recognition was well deserved.
“Our colleagues have brought honour to Sowetan and we are proud of them.
“They set a high bar and I expect more good deeds from them in the future,” Mgwaba said.
Maponya and Ndlovu expressed their joy at winning the awards in the hard news category.
“I’m very much elated and winning this award will go a long way in inspiring me to work even harder,” Maponya said.
“I’m also thankful to my colleagues for always pushing me to the limit to do the best,” he said.
Ndlovu said: “I’m over the moon about what I have achieved today [last night].
“It was through the hard work that was put in.
“We worked hard to highlight the plight of those innocent pupils who lived in inhumane conditions.
“I’m encouraged as a journalist that I helped these children to be taken back to their normal conducive place to stay,” he said.