Shoprite Checkers / SABC 2 Woman of the Year winners announced

2008/08/08

South Africa’s premier accolade for achievement by women went to Janet Buckland who was named the Shoprite Checkers/ SABC2 Woman of the Year 2008.

Accepting the overall title of this prestigious Award as well as the arts, culture and communications category, Buckland, said that it has been breath-taking to be part of the Award. “Being in the company of such a brilliant group of giving achievers has made it a truly humbling experience. “The women nominated in the Award are inspirational and make me want to rush out and achieve more. Furthermore the recognition this Award has brought to improve the status of the arts in the Eastern Cape is sensational.

“And with such an award the message is clear - look beyond the surface and really see the need out there! Everyone has something valuable to share or give,” she concluded. Ms Buckland or simply known as Mama J to the communities in the Eastern Cape has been responsible for the initiation and creation of a significant number of very successful arts and culture projects in the province.

She combined her understanding of the value of the arts and particularly theatre in the lives of all South Africans with her skills as a performer, director, fund raiser and administrator to direct these projects over a number of years in the Eastern Cape.

The most notably project is UBOM! the Eastern Cape Drama Company, which was the first full time professional drama company in the province. It brings theatre presentations and drama workshops to literally thousands of people in schools and communities all over the Eastern Cape.

Since its start almost six years ago Ubom! has reached audiences totalling more than 178 000. It also has provided 36 full time contracts for actors to work in the Eastern Cape. Buckland is raising the funds to sustain it.

The award ceremony will be broadcast on SABC2 at 20h00 tomorrow, when National Women’s Day is celebrated. It will also include the announcement of the winners of the seven categories of the Award. A special 48-minute programme in which all the finalists in the Award’s profiles are combined will be broadcast on Sunday, 3 August 2008 at 21h00 also on SABC2.

Data Privacy Policy
Please note that Supermarket.co.za adheres to ethical personal data privacy policies.
No contact details or other data are collected by us or stored for any purpose, unless it is clearly
stated on the page on which the data collection form appears.