SUN journalist earns prestigious Alet Roux Award

SOUTHLANDS Sun journalist Dillon Pillay’s rising career in community journalism reached a major milestone when the young Southlands SUN journalist was named the recipient of the prestigious Alet Roux Award for Most Promising Journalist at the annual Avbob/FCJ Excellence Awards in Pretoria on August 21.

The Forum for Community Journalists (FCJ) annually shines the spotlight on the country’s community journalists, recognising excellence in journalism across a wide range of categories.

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With just more than 600 entries received this year, Southlands SUN journalist Pillay was a finalist in the Mobile Photography category, where he placed fourth, and achieved seventh place in the News Photography category.

His biggest achievement, however, came when he was named the recipient of the Alet Roux Award for Most Promising Journalist. The Alet Roux Award for Best Newcomer is awarded annually to a journalist with less than three years’ experience who places in the top 10 in the respective categories and/or is named a category winner.

History of the Alet Roux Award

The award was established in honour of Alet Roux, a former editor of Suid-Kaap Forum, who was murdered on a farm by a convicted murderer who was out on parole. Roux was an experienced and dedicated journalist who, among other achievements, won the hard news category.

The award not only honours her memory, but also celebrates her passion for journalism and her commitment to quality, credible news reporting. It aims to recognise and encourage young journalists who are already producing outstanding work and inspire them to build on the legacy of excellence left by journalists such as Roux.

According to the judging panel, convened by Dr André Gouws of Akademia, Pillay is a young journalist who “gives it all”.

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“He is clearly very versatile and dedicated to his craft. He performed well across many categories. He was in the top 10 in three categories, namely mobile photography, news photography and sport photography. He was in the top 20 in hard news, human interest and sport. He is young and still learning, but he can already compete against the best community journalists in the country. We expect great things from him in the future,” the judges said.

SUN journalists’ achievements

Andile Sithole was also recognised, placing eighth in the Writing: Municipal and Hard News category. The competition attracted just over 600 entries this year, with participants showcasing exemplary work across 17 categories. Front Pages, with 76 entries; Back Pages, 49; Free Newspaper of the Year, 45; Hard News/Investigative Reporting, 79; and Compelling Human-Interest Reportage, 64, were among the most strongly contested categories.

The South Coast SUN journalists also performed exceptionally well. Nikhil Gopichand achieved fourth place in the General Photography category and sixth place in Sport Photography, while Vusi Mthalane placed fourth in the Writing: Municipal and Hard News category. “I am immensely proud of my journalists’ achievements,” said editor Roelien D’Amico.

“These achievements not only demonstrate their hard work and resilience, but also highlight the importance of community journalism and the value and impact that community newspapers continue to have.”

Avbob CEO Eugene Strauss said strong communities were built on accountability, trust and access to reliable information.

“They depend on you to remain informed about issues that affect their daily lives and on having their voices represented in public conversations,” he said.

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