The National Press Club has declared the Congress of the People and Eskom joint winners of its newsmaker of the year 2008 award.
Faced with a task of choosing President Jacob Zuma, his predecessor Thabo Mbeki, ANC Youth League President Julius Malema or the Scorpions, the club decided that Cope and Eskom were ”worthy contenders” committee member Patrick Hlahla said on Friday.
Eskom made headlines during the first half of 2008 with loadshedding affecting traffic and businesses, the press club said in a statement.
Cope dominated news headlines in the second half of the year with the split from the African National Congress and the formation of the new political party.
”According to Monitoring South Africa (MSA) there were 48 320 unique news items on Eskom and the power crisis. MSA said media coverage levels of Eskom went down in October and November to half of the volume that was recorded in April and May.
”The last few months of 2008 saw an incredible, dramatic and irrevocable change in the South African political landscape … the political party Congress of the People was established,” said club chairperson Yusuf Abramjee.
”Cope’s national convention, the launch of its logo, the official launch of the party, the court cases, its stated intentions and the names of prominent people joining the party, have been reported on both electronic and print media for most of the latter part of last year,” Abramjee said.
Previous recipients of the award include Mbeki and former presidents Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk, Charlize Theron, Zachie Achmat and the Treatment Action Campaign, disgraced former cricket captain Hansie Cronj̩, the South African Rand, Zuma, and Helen Zille. РSapa