South Africa's first ever initiative to give accolades to the Awards industry has been launched and it will culminate in a gala event on 25 February 2019 where organisers will receive commendations for staging premier award programs in the country. 

Awards will be handed out in more than 40 different categories, and the winners will be chosen on having the best overall year-on-year percentage growth for their programs. 

According to Gerrit Davids, MD of Gerom Media, "The idea is for it to become the pinnacle for the Awards industry and with more than 1000 premier award programs being held annually in the country, there is definitely more than enough reason to give organisers the recognition they deserve for staging their programs year after year."   

All winners will automatically be entered into the African edition of the Awards, which will take place in July 2019 to crown the continent's leading award programs. 

Entry to the Awards has already opened and the closing date is 18 January 2019. 

Entry Forms are available online at: www.gerommedia.com  

For more information contact: Gerrit Davids

MD
Gerom Media 
Mobile+27 (0) 82 496 1657
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.gerommedia.com

Great News – we have extended the deadline to the 25th September 2018 due to high demand so get those entries in.

We have changed the www.assegaiawards.co.za website, all entries and payments will be done online this year using your company credit/debit card.

How to enter in 5 easy steps

Step 1 – Log in

• Go to www.assegaiawards.co.za and scroll to the bottom to login
• We have member login and non-member logins (members pay a discount for entries)
• Members – login details have been sent you, if you have not received these please send us a request on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Non-members please register, and your password will be emailed to you

Step 2 – Select your entry category

• You’re in - we have 5 sections A, B, C, D, E, F (see these here)
• Select your entry category and click add to basket, view your cart to see a list of the entries you’ve selected (here you can increase and decrease quantity and you can remove an entry)
• Click on proceed to fill out your entry

Step 3 – Fill out your entry

• Once you’ve clicked on proceed to check out – you are then able to upload your files and fill in your Creative, Strategy and ROI
• Remember each block allows for 500 words
• Upload your supporting documents (1 page per upload = maximum of 3 pages per entry)
• Tip: add links to your entry to avoid exceeding the page allocations

Step 5 – Pay

• Click on place order for payments
• Fill in the information required and click submit
• A receipt will be mailed to you

Important Dates:

• 25 September 2018 – Entries close @midnight
• 27th September 2018 & 5 October 2018 – Judging Days
• 8 November 2018 - Awards Evening

Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for all enquiries.

South African Plastics Recycling Organisation (SAPRO) is inviting entries to this year’s Recycled Plastic Product of the Year Awards.

SAPRO is proud to announce the sixth prestigious competition, with the aim of acknowledging the wide variety of products that are locally manufactured using recycled materials.

History of the competition

The Recycled Plastic Product of the Year Awards were held for the first time in 2010 and has been dubbed “The Oscars of the plastics recycling industry”. Each year the competition grows both in the number of entries and in the variety of different products being submitted.

This biennial competition showcases the tremendous amount of ingenuity and creativity our local product designers have, and aims to encourage brand owners to seriously consider recycled plastics as a material of choice. Whether they are designing packaging or pallets, shoes or shopping bags, this competition has demonstrated that there is no limitation to where and how recycled plastics can be used.

Previous overall winners include the City of Cape Town and MPACT Plastic Containers with their Fifty/50 Wheelie Bin (2015), Unilever with their Sunlight Dishwashing bottle (2013), Lasher Tools with their Eco-Wheelbarrow (2012), Woolworths and Polypet with their 1.5 litre juice bottle (2011) and Tufflex Materials with their innovative railway sleeper made from mixed materials (2010).

Winners of this year’s competition will be announced at a gala dinner in Gauteng during Clean-Up and Recycle SA Week (11-17 September 2017).

Product categories and judging criteria

In order to encourage even greater participation and entries by local converters and innovators, this year’s competition will have the following five distinct product categories:

• Products made from 100% post-consumer recyclate
• Products containing a percentage post-consumer recyclate
• Products made from recycled mixed materials
• Novel and Artistic products - i.e. articles made from discarded plastics products
• And for the first time, there is also a “New Ideas” category - anything that can be made from recycled materials. It does not have to be a product as yet, just the idea clearly explained on a poster, mock-ups or a good explanation

A gold, silver and bronze winner will be announced in each of these product categories, which will also acknowledge the recycler of the material, the manufacturer of the product as well as the brand owner in front of the auspicious audience during the gala awards ceremony. The overall winning entry will walk away with the SAPRO trophy for The Best Recycled Product for 2017.  

Entries will be judged on a number of criteria by a panel of judges who are experts in plastics, packaging, recycling, product design and marketing. The criteria they will use when adjudicating each entry includes: the life expectancy of the product, the sustainability (i.e. long-term demand and market acceptance of product), the measures taken to ensure product consistency and customer satisfaction despite recycled material content, tonnage (or potential tonnages) of plastics that were converted and therefore diverted from landfill, technical achievements in manufacturing to overcome recycled material challenges, replacement of alternative materials and the so-called “Wow-factor” of the product. 

Although various weighting could be used to judge products objectively, we are looking for products that will grow the demand for recyclate, help to focus on the quality of products and to stimulate innovation – all aspects needed for a vibrant plastics recycling industry.

Rules, regulations and entry forms

Any company in the SADC region may enter the competition, provided that the recycled material originated in South Africa. Products that were entered in previous years’ competitions, but failed to win, are also eligible to enter again. The closing date for entries is Thursday, 10 August 2017.We look forward to receiving a record amount of entries for this year’s competition. The very fact that recycling industries both locally and internationally are under severe pressure and are fighting to survive, serves to highlight the importance of showcase events such as these.

We need to make sure that decision makers are made aware of the versatility of recycled plastics and the important role this industry plays in job creation, diverting waste from landfill and growing the economy. 

Entry forms and competition rules can be obtained online from SAPRO’s website (http://www.plasticrecyclingsa.co.za).

The Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority (CHIETA) held its inaugural Recognition Awards Ceremony on 26 October 2016, to acknowledge excellence in the areas of skills development partnerships, innovation in training, work integrated learning, support for people living with disabilities as well as extraordinary work by new member companies.  

33 Companies walked away with awards that were given across 6 categories namely; Best Skills Development Partner, Recognition for Support of People with Disabilities, Best Partner for WIL, Best Innovation in Skills Development, CHIETA 2015/2016 Achiever Award and Special Award to new member companies from CHIETA ACEO.  

The companies received a trophy, a certificate of acknowledgment as well as a cheque for R 150 000.00 towards skills development in the 2017(terms and conditions apply).  

Member companies such as SASOL, CHEVRON South Africa and Unilever were amongst the veteran industry companies to snatch up awards during this prestigious event. The focus however was not on the age or history of organisations but rather the merits of each project.    

Rural based companies such as Elinem Construction CC were recognized for their unique offering to the unemployed youth of rural Kwa-Zulu-Natal.   “As a SETA accredited training provider and employer, we target unemployed youth from the rural community of KZN and take them through the institutional training and then into Elinem Construction for in-service training,” shared Warren Birchall, Training Manager of Elinem Construction CC.  He added that the Elinem learners therefore leave the program trained for industry and not for the minimum outcome as is specified by many training program.  

Mr Birchall reiterated that this program is largely made possible by CHIETA funding as 99% of their learners hail from impoverished backgrounds. This program was visited by the Auditor General of South Africa during the 2016 Audit period, and was found to be fully compliant, with a low dropout rate of 2%.   South Africa’s unemployment rate has gone up since 2013 where it peaked at 24.5%, 2016 shows a 2 % increase to 26.6%. It is crucial that employers and the unemployed find each other. Often the problem comes in the from of young people not accessing training due to financial constraints or receiving training that is not necessarily suited for the employers’ needs.  

Ayesha Itzkin, CHIETA CEO (Acting) stated: “The focus of CHIETA has, over the past year been on strengthening South Africa’s youth skills development system and ensuring that the right skills are developed for the needs of industry, the economy and the country, specifically enhancing workplace experience – based training and contributing to building strong partnerships with important role-players for a range of training interventions. This is also done for bursary students”   Henkel South Africa is one of the member companies that was recognized for their innovative approach to training and ability to deliver on CHIETA and industry focus areas. Through their Shaping Futures project, Henkel South Africa offers training and placement to young aspirant hairdressers. Mr Bongani Mabunda, Head of Education for Africa, Henkel South Africa celebrated the fact that of the 300 students trained though this program, 270 enjoy fulltime employment.   “We normally used to do this program once a year but due to demand and funding from CHIETA we are now able to do it twice a year. We are also expanding and were now taking the program to Cape Town for the first time,” said Mr Mabunda.                

Amidst the uncertainty of the future of our tertiary education system in the face of the fees issues, it is heartening to see parties collaborating to address the skills, funding and education challenges. Partnerships between TVET colleges such as Umfolozi, Gert Sibande and Falvius Mareka TVET Colleges, as well as universities such as Wits and Western Cape University, industry and SETA’s are essential in ensuring that learners are financially supported and trained for industry needs.   Michelle Rock from Unilever observed; “We have worked on a strategic project with CHIETA, Wits University and our Khanyisa manufacturing plant on a unique skills program to take engineering students out of formal study for a year to come and do a full year of work integrated learning and then, fund the remainder of their studies at university again”.   It is award ceremonies such as these that bring stakeholders together in order to collectively celebrate the dedication and hard work of all parties and serve as encouragement to stay the course.   The CHIETA Board Chairman, Ms Nolitha Fakude’s message focused on the importance of the event and said: “We are gathered here this evening to celebrate and honour the achievement and commitment of 33 CHIETA companies in skills development. We recognise your efforts and to all other stakeholders, not being recognised today, we also thank you for your participation and commitment, and in the same breath encourage you to do even more going forward. “