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The South African National Parks (SANParks) supported by Total South Africa and First National Bank (FNB) recognised deserving conservationists at their 13th annual SANParks Kudu Awards ceremony held at CSIR Convention Centre in Pretoria this evening.

Mr Fundisile Mketeni SANParks CEO, said that the Kudu Awards recognises internal and external stakeholders for their vital contribution in making South African National Parks the custodian of choice for the national parks system in South Africa. “These awards honour people for their meaningful contributions to the protection of the environment through various means which reflects society’s admirable social responsibility – giving meaning to the SANParks vision of ‘A Sustainable National Parks System Connecting Society’.”

Kgosi Ledimo, CEO of FNB Public Sector Banking, said “The Kudu awards are an integral part of the preservation of the environment. It’s only through recognizing people that are doing the hard work that we will see the success seen over the few years. Our involvement in these awards is also a way of adding our voice to signal the urgency with which we must respond to the threats posed to the environment. Going forward we hope to recognize more individuals that selflessly serve South Africa’s environmental challenges”.

“Environmental conservation is one of the key pillars that Total South Africa’s CSI is based on and the Kudu Awards is one of the projects that we sponsor and that we are happy to be supporting. Next year sees Total and SANParks celebrate 60 years of working together and several initiatives will be rolled out during the course of the year. Our congratulations to all the winners of the KUDU Awards and thank you for the sterling work that you are doing”, says Pierre-Yves Sachet, CEO and MD of Total South Africa.

As part of the awards SANParks Board Chairperson Ms Joanne Yawitch bestowed a Lifetime Contribution Award to Ananias Jamie Mulhovo from the Kruger National Park. Mulhovo joined SANParks in 1971 as a General Worker in Technical Services. Always willing to assist at any given chance Mulhovo was assigned to the Skukuza Camp maintenance team in 1998 where he continued to serve the camp with distinction until his retirement last month. “When you enjoy your job like I do time flies, I cannot believe that I have been in the park for so many decades… seeing the lifetime achievement award and certificate is proof that I have received this prestigious honour,” said Mulhovo.

Mr Fundisile also bequeathed two CEO Special Awards to Dr Freek Venter of the Kruger National Park and Ronnie Steinbrucker of Table Mountain National Park for the massive impact they have had in their various operations of SANParks. This year’s winners have spent over three decades each of unbroken and loyal service in the employ of SANParks.

Winners of the 2017 Kudu Awards in the respective categories are:

Associated Partners:
Carlos Lopez Pereira from National Administration of Conservation Areas for his enormous support to anti-poaching efforts in the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park.

Business Partner of the Year:
For best year on year business growth and financial contribution to SANParks, Lukimbi Safari Lodge in the Kruger National Park was awarded the Best Business Partner of the Year for the 2016/2017 financial year.

Corporate Contribution (Non-Profit Making Organisation):
Cape Town Environmental Education Trust in recognition of the trust’s commitment and wide reach in developing young people and also imparting environmental knowledge to different communities and schools in Cape Town and surroundings.

Environmental Media: Best Journalist:
This year’s Environmental Media Award, Best Journalist of the Year went to Forbes African Magazine’s Jay Cabez for his immense contribution to the dissemination of environmental, conservation and eco-tourism information through the use of print media.

Community Contribution to Conservation:
Twin Mosia from Elandskop Museum/ VKB, Free State in recognition of your trust’s commitment and wide reach in developing young people and also imparting environmental knowledge to different communities in Mamafubedu / Pieter Stuyn and surroundings.

Individual Contribution:
Vincent van der Merwe from Endangered Wildlife Trust for his contribution to conservation through the growing of the cheetah population in and outside the national parks system.

Women in Conservation:
Petro Botha from Cape Town Environmental Education Trust for contribution to sustainable conservation of the fynbos through a ground-breaking research on using the Eland as a management tool (as opposed to fire) to conserve the vegetation of the Cape Flats.

Youth in Conservation:
Gerhard de Beer from Starke Ayres Pty Ltd. for his contribution to conservation through sourcing of funds, volunteering for the rhino preservation as well as using personal time assisting in processing of rhino carcasses in the Kruger National Park.

Reginald Christiaan for his contribution to conservation through his Scorpion Project to raise awareness on the ecology and diversity of this understudied Arachnida fauna of the Namaqualand.

Honorary Ranger Best Region of the Year:
This is the SANParks Honorary Rangers (a volunteer organisation working in national parks) Awards and the first winner is the Diamantveld Region (Small Region), for achieving the highest growth rate amongst all 31 SANParks Honorary Rangers regions in the areas of membership growth, growth in transformation, environmental education and total contribution to SANParks.

Another winner in the category is the Lowveld Region (Large Region) for achieving the highest growth rate amongst all 31 SANParks Honorary Rangers regions in the areas of membership growth, growth in transformation, environmental education and total contribution to SANParks.

Honorary Ranger Best Project of the Year:
The second winner in the Honorary Rangers Awards category is the KNP Birding Weekend, for outstanding volunteer service by running 76 trails camps per year to raise funds for SANParks.

Environmental Education/ Capacity Building Award:
Mike Kendrick from Wild Shots Outreach Programme for his commitment and wide reach in developing young people and also imparting environmental knowledge to different communities and schools in Hoedspruit, Limpopo.

Nxanguyintswa Primary School (Limpopo) for the schools efforts to conserve the environment through practising organic farming in support of local communities and leading with greening projects.

Milo Primary School (Mpumalanga) for the schools efforts to conserve the environment through practising organic farming in support of local communities and leading with greening projects.

And finally Masoyi Home Based Care (Mpumalanga) for the centre’s efforts to conserve the environment through practising organic farming in support of local communities and leading with greening projects.

The Awards evening also saw SANParks staff members being rewarded through the Chief Executive Awards. A total of 30 Chief Executive Awards were given out this year ranging from the Shield Award, Best Customer Service, Best Constituency Builder, Best Ranger Post, Best Performing Camp, Best Performing Park of the Year, Best Performing Entrance Gate/ Reception, Excellent Performance in the workplace, Overall Best Performer, Best Performing Division, Best Leadership Award, CEO Special Award to the Website Community Choice Award.

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Issued by:
South African National Parks (SANParks) Corporate Communications

Enquiries:
Janine Raftopoulos
SANParks Head of Communications
Tel: 012 426 5170, Cell: 071 444 3121
Email: [email protected]

Reynolds Thakhuli
General Manager: Media, PR & Stakeholder Relations
Tel: 012 426 5170, Mobile: 073 373 4999
Email: [email protected]

Dumezulu Shiburi
Corporate Communications Manager, FNB
Tel: 087 328 0990
Email [email protected]

Nadia Vosloo
Acting Corporate Communications Manager, Total South Africa
Tel: 011 778 2000; Cell: 0829012502
Email: [email protected]