Kgwele Newspaper wins “Photographer of the year” at the 2022 North West Media Awards

Brits: Ofentse Letlape, founder and publishing editor of Mahikeng community-based football newspaper, KGWELE ended 2022 on a high note when he was recognised as one of the best “Photographers of the Year” at the 2022 North West Media Awards held in Brits Community Centre near Rustenburg.

Ananius Ndlovu, who is one of the founders and organisers of the North West Media Awards was quoted by Taung Daily News saying that the awards were founded to honour and recognise exceptional and innovative excellence in the media industry in the North West Province. “We are actually doing it out of passion. What I like about these awards is that they are organised by people from North West, recognise the people of the province, and they are supported by the people from this province.

“We cannot wait for other provinces to pave the way for us. We are tired of people from other provinces like Gauteng, who come to the province, and take the money and go,” Ndlovu was quoted by Taung Daily News.

Ofentse Letlape explains that he entered the North West Media Awards where people had to nominate him in order for him to be recognised for his hard work among his fellow industry colleagues who some work for more established publications like Daily Sun. “I am very humbled by the support of all who nominated me for the awards. My family, friends, industry colleagues and every football fanatics who nominated me you made it possible” said Ofentse Letlape. He says this was one of his best experiences and hopes it will boost KGWELE newspaper’s profile and his career. Ofentse Letlape founded the only football newspaper based in Mahikeng five years ago.

He has big plans for KGWELE which he sees it becoming commercial and able to employ writers and photographers across the four districts of the North West in the near future. “I would like to convey my gratitude to the North West Media Awards team for coming up with such a great project for us as media practitioners. Many of the media houses in the province are from rural areas, so it really motivates us to work hard and improve on many angles as we strive for excellence. I also would like to thank the North West government and various municipalities who continue to support the local media through advertising so we can continue to be the voices of our communities” said Ofentse Letlape.