Terms & Conditions

The competition is open to entrants over 18 years of age. By entering the competition, you confirm that you are eligible to do so and eligible to claim any winnings. By entering you agree to the following terms and conditions.

By entering you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions.

Valid entry

• There is no fee to enter the Competition.
• Any entry not fulfilling the criteria stated herein may be disqualified.
  • Proof of publication or broadcast date must be supplied.
• All material must have been published or broadcast between 1 August 2024 and 31 July 2025.
• Entries close at midnight on Friday, 19 September 2025. No late entries will be accepted.
• The content of entries must predominantly cover South African issues. Entries must be produced as well as published/broadcast in South Africa. Work produced by foreign correspondents for South African media organisations, who work outside the country and produce work for consumption in South Africa may be accepted at the judges’ discretion as long as it predominantly covers South African issues.
• It is the entrant’s responsibility to ensure entries are complete, legible, audible and/or viewable.
• A maximum of THREE entries per category will be accepted from one entrant. Applications containing more than THREE submissions will be disqualified. A body of work, not totalling more than THREE stories, may be submitted as one entry but must cover only one subject.
• An entry must be submitted for only one category even if it fulfils the criteria for two or more categories. This means entrants must choose whether to enter a specific piece or body of work in the Politics or Investigative categories or the Sports, Feature/Lifestyle or Innovation categories, for example. Those entering the Young Journalist category must enter as individuals and must have worked in any newsroom for three years or less. They must submit a portfolio of work (maximum three pieces from within the competition period) together with their CV and a strong motivation of no more than 500 words. Regional winner will receive a certificate and become finalists for the national Young Journalist Award.
• They may enter any TWO other categories as well but they should note that only THREE entries are permitted per entrant per category.
• The judges reserve the right to move any submission to another category should it be deemed appropriate.
• All journalists and editors wishing to submit entries must register on the Vodacom Journalist of the Year website https://journalist.vodacom.co.za before submitting their entry. Editors may enter work on behalf of their journalists but must clearly record the name and contact details of the journalist and/or contributing journalists or producer.
• Only contributors who participated directly in researching, developing or producing the content of an entry, as shown in the piece's by‐line/credits, will be considered eligible entrants of a team entry. The name and contact details of each contributor must then accompany the submission in the credits section of the registration process. Multiple contributors to a winning entry will share any prize equally, whether at regional or national level. This does not apply to the Young Journalist category where entrants must enter in their individual capacities.
• All submissions must be entered in the Vodacom region where you are employed or, if a freelancer, where your personal office is. This may not be in the region where you carried out the reporting: for example, a Johannesburg-based journalist sent to the Free State on assignment should enter the resulting coverage in Gauteng.
• An entry may not be submitted in more than one region (view regional map) https://journalist.vodacom.co.za/FAQ/ so if a piece has multiple contributors, it cannot be submitted for Gauteng and the Western Cape, for example. Multiple contributors must all enter in the same region, based on the office location of the majority.
• Entrants must accompany each entry with background information and a motivation to the judges as to why they believe the submitted material deserves to win the category entered. Include, for example, a description of circumstances and challenges affecting the story's development such as volume of research and/or investigation, time, safety and/or financial constraints, as well as an account of any impact the story might have had.
• Every entry in each category is eligible for the Regional Awards, provided it complies with all requirements in this list of criteria.

Intellectual Property Rights Notice

We respect the Intellectual Property Rights of everyone who visits this website. As a result, we would like to inform you regarding the way we would use your competition entry.

The information collected on the website and sourced from third parties is not collected or stored by Vodacom but is collected and processed by Flooid and IT-EM for purposes of managing the Competition entries.

By submitting your content to us, you hereby grant Vodacom (Pty) Ltd, FLOOID PTY(LTD) their Suppliers and partners the non-exclusive right and license to:

• Make, use, reproduce, perform, display, import, broadcast, transmit, install, host, execute, and use your submitted content in any form in Vodacom Journalist of the year Competition Judging, Awards Functions, Website and related marketing activities.
• Copy and store the content for the purposes of maintaining back-up copies.

Collect and process your Personal data in your legitimate interest as a data subject in order to facilitate the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Competition 2025.

The type of data we collect will depend on the purpose for which it is collected and used. We will only collect data that we need for that purpose.

Examples of data we collect from you are:

• name
• address
• email address
• telephone/cell number
• user-generated content, posts and other content you submit to our web site

We also collect data about you from other sources as explained below.We may also supplement the data that you provide to us with data we receive from other companies in our industry in order to offer you a more consistent and personalized experience in your interactions with us.

The prize

• The Prize will be awarded to the chosen winners
  
  • One (1) winner will be awarded the Vodacom Young Journalist Award, an educational boost to nurture upcoming newsroom talent, to the value of R50 000
  • Eleven regional category winners each receive R5 000 (five thousand Rand);
  • Eleven national category winners each receive R10 000 (ten thousand Rand); and
  • The overall Vodacom Journalist of the Year winner receives R100 000 (one hundred thousand Rand).
  • In the case of joint winners, prize money is shared.
  • The total value of the prizes in the Competition is R560 000
• Vodacom will not be held liable if the named prize becomes unavailable or cannot be fulfilled.
• Vodacom will not be held liable for any failure of receipt of entries.
• Vodacom takes no responsibility for any entries which are lost, delayed, illegible, corrupted, damaged, incomplete, or otherwise invalid.
• Prizes are non-negotiable, non-transferable, and non-refundable. No cash alternative is available. Where a Prize becomes unavailable for any reason, the promoter reserves the right to substitute that prize for a prize of equal or higher value.
• Winners to make use of own transport to and from the Vodacom Journalist of the Year awards ceremonies.
  
  • All risks and ownership of the prizes shall pass to the winners on transfer/delivery thereof and hence all of Vodacom’s obligations in regard to the Competition as well as in regard to the prizes shall terminate.
  • Winners must have a valid South African bank account and physical address where prizes can be delivered to, or payment can be affected if a cash value prize is awarded.

Data protection and publicity

• The information collected on the website and sourced from third parties is not collected or stored by Vodacom but is collected and processed by Flooid and IT-EM for purposes of managing the competition entries.
• For purposes of the competition, Vodacom as the Event Owner does not receive the media list nor have access to the entrant's details to remain independent in the judging process until the winners are decided and then provided with the winners’ details for the media releases. For purposes of the event, the RSVP attendance list is provided for the gifts and hospitality registration.
• The winner’s name and social media username may be posted on the social media profiles of Vodacom after a winner has been selected and announced at the respective award ceremony.
• Vodacom is committed to processing personal information honestly, ethically, with integrity, and always consistent with applicable laws and our privacy commitments.
• Your privacy is important to us – just as knowing how we use your information is important to you. This Vodacom Privacy Portal gives you access to our privacy policy which offers visibility of how we collect, use, share and protect your personal information based on your interactions with Vodacom, our agents, products and services that you use or subscribe to and how you make use of these products and services.
• User data collected via the Competition will not be used for any other purpose than for execution of the Competition.
• User data collected via entry for this Competition will be stored for as long as it is legally required to and in accordance with Competition’s Privacy Policy, https://journalist.vodacom.co.za/privacy/

Winner announcement

• The winners will be notified via email
  
  • Flooid, as the appointed Competition Secretariat, or its duly authorised agent, IT-EM, will attempt to contact the winners by email up to two times to retrieve banking information.
• If the winner does not respond to the emails notifying them, they will lose their prize money. Vodacom reserves the right to retract the prize money.
• In the event of unforeseen circumstances beyond Vodacom’s reasonable control, Vodacom reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the competition or these terms and conditions, either in whole or in part, with or without notice.

General

• In the event of a dispute in regard to any aspect of the Competition and/or the Terms and Conditions, Vodacom’s decision will be final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into.
• Vodacom may refuse to award a prize if entry procedures or these Terms and Conditions have not been adhered to or if it detects any irregularities or fraudulent practices. Vodacom is entitled in its entire discretion to reject any participant for any reason and will not be obliged to notify participants that they are rejected.
• Vodacom and/or any other person or party associated with the Competition, their associated companies, agents, contractors and sponsors and any of its personnel involved in the Competition, shall not be liable whatsoever for any loss or damage incurred or suffered (including but not limited to direct or indirect or consequential loss), death or personal injury suffered or sustained arising from either participation in the Competition or from claiming the prize.
• Vodacom is not liable for any technical failures affecting participation and / or prize redemption process of the Competition. In addition, neither Vodacom nor its agents shall be responsible for any loss or misdirected entries, including entries that were not received due to any failure of hardware, software, or other computer or technical systems affecting participating in and/or the prize redemption process of the Competition.
• Vodacom, its directors, employees, agents and distributors, are not responsible for any misrepresentation (whether written or verbal) in respect of any prize nor in respect of any warranties, guarantees or undertakings given by any person other than Vodacom itself.
• If Vodacom is required by law to alter or cancel any aspect of the Competition or to terminate it as a result of changes in legislation, or for any reason whatsoever, it will have the right to terminate the Competition being offered, with immediate effect and without notice. In such event all entrants hereby waive any rights which they may have against Vodacom and its associated companies, agents, contractors and/or sponsors.
• All information relating to the Competition which is published on any marketing material will form part of these Terms and Conditions. In the event of any conflict between such marketing material and these Terms and Conditions, these Terms and Conditions shall prevail.