The South African economy under the stewardship of Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has been declared Newsmaker 2005 of the Johannesburg Press Club.
The club shares President Thabo Mbeki’s view that South Africa has entered its ”age of hope”, the club’s chairperson, Hopewell Radebe, said on Monday,
”I congratulate the minister for the excellent work he has done steering the economy in the right direction to a point of reaching the levels of growth witnessed last year,” Radebe said.
While the minister was often quoted or his name mentioned by commentators in most written or broadcast reports on related topics, the upward trends about the country’s economy in general kept the media busy during 2005, Radebe added.
Other nominees for the award were former deputy president Jacob Zuma and South African Olympic swimmer Ryk Neethling. — Sapa