The Limpopo Mirror won the coveted Best Newspaper award during the LiN Media awards on Saturday. Its sister paper, the Zoutpansberger, ended second with Die Pos from Bela-Bela in third place.

The LiN Media awards ceremony took place at the Klein Kariba resort near Bela-Bela on Saturday. LiN Media is an umbrella body representing the main independent newspapers in Limpopo.

Limpopo Mirror made it two-in-a-row when it also won the Best Website award, again narrowly beating the Zoutpansberger. Die Pos was third with The Beat fourth and Noordelike Nuus fifth.

As far as the individual results are concerned, Limpopo Mirror’s journalists and photographers scooped up the top prizes. Kaizer Nengovhela won the Best Photographer award. The judges were especially impressed with his versatility and the portfolio that he had entered.

His colleague, Elmon Tshikhudo, won an award for Best Photo. Tshikhudo’s winning photo depicted the anguish and tragedy that go hand in hand with cases of mob justice. Tshikhudo’s writing skills were also recognised and he received a third prize in the Hard News writing category.

“Taking photos is not easy; it takes team work,” said Nengovhela afterwards. “This award was made possible by different people in different communities who allowed me to capture them.”

After the function, Tshikhudo said that he was thankful that his hard work had been recognised. “It was a great honour to hear the mention of my name,” he said.

Limpopo Mirror editor Mr Wikus Lee said that he was grateful for the recognition, but he also believed that there was room for improvement. “We will continue to strive and work towards perfection,” said Lee.

The Zoutpansberger’s news editor, Andries van Zyl, won third prize in the Human Interest writing category.