TV News South Africa

Local drama wins at 2007 AfriComNet awards

SABC Education's television drama series Tsha Tsha was announced as the best mass media winner in the 2007 African Network for Strategic Communication in Health and Development (AfriComNet) awards, hosted by Uganda at the Hilton Hotel, Sandton, Johannesburg, earlier this week. The awards honour individuals and organisations for innovation and excellence in HIV and Aids communication in Africa.

The AfriComNet awards acknowledge six best award winning categories; mass media campaign, folk media initiative, multi channel communication, community-based communication and best HIV- or Aids-related article.

An emotional Pontsho Makhetha, SABC Education's acting GM, received the engraved plaque and said, “Wwe are humbled, Uganda has fought drastically to reduce the HIV and Aids infection in their country, to be acknowledged and awarded by Uganda is an honour. Credit goes to the collective teams that are behind making Tsha Tsha such a credible initiative.”

Tsha Tsha focuses on young people living in a world affected by HIV/Aids and other social problems. The series was broadcast between 2003 and 2006 during prime-time on SABC1. Although produced for a youth target audience, the series drew viewers across age and language groups, and achieved an audience share of around 50% for the broadcast timeslot.

Tsha Tsha is produced by Curious Pictures and Centre for Aids Development, Research and Evaluation for SABC Education. Support is provided by Johns Hopkins Health & Education in South Africa, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Centre for Communications and the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief through the United States Agency for International Development.

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