Cape Town - South Africa's premier business-to-business
publication for black business leaders, BBQ magazine, will once again host the
annual 2012 Van Ryn's BBQ Awards.
This year the awards will focus on 'Creating a Legacy and
Building the Future'.
Now in its 11th year, the 2012 Van Ryn's BBQ Awards, widely
considered to be the pre-eminent competition of its kind in South Africa, was
launched in 2002 to promote sustainable black business in South Africa.
According to David Mwanambuyu, editor of Black Business
Quarterly magazine, the awards were born as a result of a need to recognise,
honour and celebrate black business excellence at a time when black business
was synonymous with informal township trading.
“Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) has introduced a new era
in black business, which has given rise to some of South Africa's most
prominent and successful black business players,” said Mwanambuyu.
Previous BBQ Platinum Award winners include Patrice Motsepe
(African Rainbow Minerals), Commander Tsietsi Mokhele (The South African
Maritime Safety Authority's) and Philisiwe Buthelezi (Chief Executive Officer
of National Empowerment Fund).
He says that the main aim of the awards is to encourage the
growth and sustainability of black business in the pursuit of providing a
platform to fast-track the graduation of previously disadvantaged individuals
into the mainstream South African economy.
“The awards continue to offer a platform to celebrate and
showcase those individuals and organisations who are at the forefront of
advancing the transformation and empowerment of black business in South
Africa.”
The awards include 13 categories and are open to individuals
and black-owned and empowered companies and organisations in South Africa. The
individual categories include Businesswoman of the Year Award, Businessman of
the Year Award, New Entrepreneur Award, Public Sector Visionary Award, Young
Business Achiever Award and Community Builder of the Year.
The winners of each category will be announced at a gala
dinner on 19 October 2012 at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg.
Individuals and organisations interested in entering can
download entry forms online as well as interact with
fellow entrants on the BBQ Awards twitter platform.
The closing date for entries is the 19 September 2012.
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