Top award for ultimate ‘midwife of dreams’
MEDIA personality and the founder of the Crown Gospel
Music Awards, Zanele Mbokazi, is humbled to have been chosen to receive the prestigious Uphaphe Lwegwalagwala award.
The award will be presented to her at the Mzansi Business Forum Gala Dinner in Johannesburg on Wednesday
Uphaphe Lwegwalagwala is an honour bestowed on entrepreneurs who are trend-setters and ground-breakers in their fields.
Mzansi Business Forum president, Siya Xulu, said Mbokazi was among the hardest working women in business that he had met.
“Uphaphe Lwegwalagwala is a special award and honour that we bestow on entrepreneurs who are trend-setters, groundbreakers and have stood the test of time. Mbokazi is such a a trend-setter, and a determined entrepreneur who has grown an idea from an awards ceremony into an institution and an empire,” said Xulu.
“She conceptualised the Crown Gospel Awards and built them into an excellent internationally recognised platform. The event creates so many jobs and shapes the careers of many people. She is also the founder of the Future Leaders Africa awards, encouraging young people from the continent to excel,” he said.
Previous recipients of the award include businessman Sandile Zungu and businesswoman Basetsana Kumalo.
Mbokazi’s Crown Gospel Awards have come a long way since their firs ceremony a decade ago. Mbokazi recently announced that the brand would be branching out to other parts of Africa.
“Crown Zambia will take place in the first quarter of 2018. We have also launched a prestigious award ceremony called the Trumpet Africa Gospel Awards for the continent and the diaspora.
“Next year we will do the Africa Gospel Festival in New York and London. So we are excited to receive this recognition – it is encouraging,” said Mbokazi.
At next week’s gala dinner, Mbokazi will be honoured alongside Nigeria’s business mogul, Aliko Dangote.
Fondly known as the midwife of dreams, Mbokazi hosted the first pastors’ wives conference in Durban, where women who were married to pastors got together to address challenges faced by the wives and discuss issues around the expectations of being married to a pastor. The wives had gathered to discuss their role and relationships of being married to ordained men.
A special guest at the conference was first lady Tobeka Madiba Zuma.
Business leaders and heads of state from all over the continent, including the rulers of Kenya, Zambia, Namibia, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Lesotho, have been invited to attend the awards event.