You nominated the heroes who inspire you, now meet the ‘greatest’ judges
— Radio and TV personality Anele Mdoda
TODAY marks the final day for nominations for the Johnnie Walker Sunday Times Nation’s Greatest awards. The awards seek to recognise ordinary South Africans for their selfless commitment to their chosen career or community across seven categories, including mentor, inventor, hero and challenger.
These are the judges for the competition:
Ayanda Mbanga, deputy group CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi South Africa, is a Rhodes journalism graduate who was appointed a director after just two years with the firm.
A brand in her own right, Mbanga has worked her way up, showing true leadership skills and entrepreneurial spirit. At Saatchi & Saatchi she is responsible for driving new business development, talent management and group client relations.
Her achievements include being a finalist for the Nedbank Business Woman of the Year 2008, a Publisher’s Award 2012 from Avusa Media, the Black Business Executive Council Kaelo Award 2012, and being named as one of Cosmopolitan Magazine’s Fun Fearless Females in 2012.
As a judge, Mbanga will be looking for those who “speak their truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story” (from Desiderata by Max Ehrmann).
David Shapiro is deputy chairman of Sasfin Securities. He joined the stock market in 1972, shortly after qualifying as a chartered accountant. On top of his executive duties, he manages private client money and a unit trust, the Sasfin Met Equity Fund.
In 2012 the Sasfin Met Equity Fund earned two Raging Bull awards for its performance over three years: the best-value fund and the best overall general equity fund. He comments daily on the stock market on East Coast Radio, Radio 702 and SAfm.
He also appears weekly on Business Day TV and CNBC and writes a regular business column for The Times. Shapiro served on the committee of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange from 1986 to 1992.
Patti McDonald, former education publisher of Times Media, went into exile in London in 1981. She designed and produced publications for the ANC, the International Defence and Aid Fund and the AntiApartheid Movement.
For three years she worked at the ANC department of information and publicity, and designed the party’s present logo.
She also completed a diploma in design for print and a postgraduate diploma in design and media technology at the London College of Printing.
In the UK she worked as a graphic designer for the Observer and Guardian newspapers. Since returning to South Africa when the ANC was unbanned, McDonald has worked for South newspaper, redesigned The Sowetan and the Pretoria News, acted as creative manager for Edgars and did art direction for Femina, Tribute and Elle magazines. She joined Johnnic ( now Times Media Group) after working for the Government Communication and Information System as a chief director.
McDonald has also been an adviser to the Department of Arts and Culture and was recognised by The Media magazine as one of the “Most Remarkable Women in Media”.
“There are so many challenges facing South African civic society, and the Nation’s Greatest competition is an excellent opportunity to honour the spirit of volunteerism and goodwill,” said McDonald.
A poet, author, performer, television presenter, actress, producer and social commentator, Lebo
Mashile first made her mark on the cultural landscape as a founder member of the Feela Sistah Spoken Word Collective in 2003.
She went on to present and coproduce the SABC1 travel documentary series L’attitude.
Mashile is a multi-award-winning artist who has performed in 20 countries. She is the author of two collections of poetry: In a Ribbon of Rhythm (2005), which won the 2006 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, and Flying Above the Sky (2008). She is an ambassador for the Say No To Child Pornography campaign, as well as the Step Up, Let’s Lead initiative.
Mashile acted in the Oscar-nominated film Hotel Rwanda, was one of Cosmopolitan Magazine’s Awesome Women of 2005, and was named in the Mail & Guardian’s Top 100 Youths in 2006, 2007 and 2009.
She received the City PressRapport Woman of Prestige Award in 2007. Mashile can be seen every Monday presenting the parenting show Great Expectations on e.tv. Radio DJ and TV personality
Anele Mdoda is known for her fearlessness, sharp wit and vivaciousness. She recently joined the 94.7 Highveld Stereo team again to take over the flagship Afternoon Drive Time show.
Mdoda studied at the University of
It’s about maintaining your standards and staying true to yourself. You have to be kind to everyone, even if they can’t help your career.’
Pretoria and majored in politics and international relations.
At Tuks FM, Mdoda met Grant Nash and the pair discovered an onair chemistry. They were hired by 94.7 Highveld Stereo in 2007 and hosted a weekday evening show for a year before being poached by 5FM in 2008.
Mdoda has also taken to the small screen, first in 2008 as one of the celebrity contestants on SABC2’s reality dance competition, Strictly Come Dancing, and as the co-host of the channel’s reality competition SA’s Got Talent in 2009. Mdoda credits “being consistent” as one of her secrets to success.
“It’s about maintaining your standards and staying true to yourself. You have to be kind to everyone, even if they can’t help your career.”
One of her career highlights was covering London Fashion Week for Top Billing, and she is proud of winning the MTN Radio Award for best daytime show (2012). Mdoda has also won the titles of Glamour Woman of the Year, Most Stylish in South Africa and Most Stylish Media Personality. Editor-at-large of Times Media Ray
Hartley completed a postgraduate degree in journalism and politics at Rhodes University.
He worked as the minutes secretary of Working Group 2 at the Codesa constitutional negotiations, which drafted the Bill of Rights in South Africa’s first democratic parliament.
Hartley began his career as a boxing writer for the Weekly Mail, which later became the Mail & Guardian.
He worked briefly at Business Day before joining the Sunday Times as a political reporter in 1993. Hartley covered the Nelson Mandela presidency as the newspaper’s political correspondent based in the new democratic parliament. He travelled extensively with Mandela, reporting on state visits.
He was the newspaper’s Cape Town bureau chief, political editor, managing editor and deputy editor, before becoming the launch editor of daily newspaper The Times in 2007.
In 2010, Hartley was appointed editor of the Sunday Times, a position he held until early this year.
“It’s great to be part of something positive which recognises those who strive to make this country great,” he said. “We’re looking for exceptional who make a difference through leadership, courage, integrity and ingenuity.”
The CEO and co-founder of the Awethu Project, Yusuf Randera
Rees , has a passion for the new South Africa that is deeply rooted in the experiences of his mixed-race family under apartheid.
A Rhodes scholar at Oxford with an undergraduate degree from Harvard and work experience on Wall Street, he put his education and professional experience to good use in South Africa by creating a ground-breaking model for identifying, incubating and investing in talented entrepreneurs from underprivileged backgrounds.
Randera-Rees was selected as one of the world’s best emerging social entrepreneurs by Echoing Green in 2011. His start-up has now become one of the leading incubators in South Africa and is supported by the National Jobs Fund and leading companies such as Discovery and Accenture. Awethu Project aims to incubate 500 entrepreneurs in Johannesburg this year and create 1 000 jobs in 2014.
“South Africa has a proud history of heroes, but we need more heroes in the present,” said Randera-Rees. “The Nation’s Greatest competition is about unearthing our country’s everyday heroes and I’m excited to be a part of it.”