Celebrating South Africa’s humanitarians

FOURWAYS – The kindness and humanity of South Africans were celebrated recently as the finalists for the Humanitarian of the Year competition were announced at the Indaba Hotel.

June 13, 2018

Robyn Kirk 1 minute read

Lesley Rochat is one of the finalists in the 2018 Humanitarian of the Year competition and was nominated for her work in marine and shark conservation. Photo: Robyn Kirk

The six finalists for this year’s Humanitarian of the Year were announced in a glamorous event hosted at the Indaba Hotel.

Originally called the SA Bachelor and Bachelorette of the Year, the competition was founded in 2011 by the Copperstone Agency as a means to showcase men and women from around the country who encompass brains, beauty, entrepreneurship and the spirit of ubuntu.

The evening was emceed by Pascal Pienaar, who portrays Karli du Preez in the soap opera Binnerlanders. After the six finalists were announced, the audience was treated to a performance by Veronique Lalouette, best known for her involvement in the third season of Idols South Africa.

Adele Wotherspoon has some experience in pageants as she had previously been crowned Mrs Africa Globe Classic. She supports a number of charities including Dignity Dreams and Deskbags. Photo: Robyn Kirk

Erica Pienaar is one of the founding members of the Princess Project which provides underprivileged Grade 12s with dresses and shoes which allow them to enjoy their matric dance. Photo: Robyn Kirk

“The women are doing especially well this year, they’re really outshining the men,” said Emanuel Pietersen, who won the competition in 2016 and who engaged with the audience during the night.

“The competition was re-branded [as Humanitarian of the Year in 2017] for a number of reasons, including that people assumed it was about finding partners for the bachelor or bachelorette, which isn’t the case.”

Zuenè Taljaard entered Humanitarian of the Year to spread awareness of mental illness, something she has struggled with personally for years. She is also a lecturer. Photo: Robyn Kirk

Charnay Sargent is the youngest finalist in this year’s Humanitarian of the Year and is only 26 years old. She is greatly inspired by her mother. Photo: Robyn Kirk

As each of the six finalists was announced, they were invited on stage to tell the audience a little bit about themselves and their work in communities across South Africa.

The six finalists are:

Lesley Rochat, a marine and shark conservationist who founded the AfriOceans non-profit organisation
Zuenè Taljaard, a Pretoria-based lecturer who has made it her mission to bring mental illness awareness to the public after her own struggles with bipolar
Adele Wotherspoon who is involved with a number of charities and who has been crowned Mrs Africa Globe Classic previously
Erica Pienaar, one of the founding members of the Princess Project, which provides beautiful dresses and other accessories to less fortunate girls to wear at their matric dances
Charnay Sargent, the youngest of this year’s finalists at 26
Lerato Maukangwe, a single mother from Springs who teaches dancing for free in her community.

The finalists will become involved with fundraising for numerous charities before the winner is announced in November. At the same event, six finalists for the related Talent Search competition were also announced.