Winners will be announced at the annual SAPOA Convention taking place at the International Convention Centre in Durban 3 – 5 June 2009.

“The annual SAPOA (South African Property Owners Association) Property Journalism Awards, recognises journalists who make an outstanding contribution to the analysis, investigation and reporting of news and trends in the South African property market,” says SAPOA CEO Neil Gopal. 

The Awards, which are sponsored by Pace Property Group, feature four categories; Best Property News Journalist, Best Property Feature Journalist, and Best Property Publication and Best Property Radio Interview.

Says TC Chetty, Chairman of the SAPOA Property Journalism Awards committee, “The Awards, are increasingly attracting more media interest year on year. Not only are more journalists submitting entries, but in line with the increasing media focus on the property market, we’ve increased the number of categories from three to four.  We’ve also widened the pool of eligible entrants.”

“Members of the judging panel have been chosen on the basis of their ability to provide fresh perspectives and insight,” says Gopal. The panel features a number of highly respected property professionals across a range of disciplines, including: Leon Allison of Macquarie First South Securities and Brian Azizollahoff of Redefine Income Fund from the listed property sector; David Green of Pace Property Group, Kgaogelo Mamabolo of Liberty Properties and TC Chetty of  TC Chetty & Associates from the property management, asset management and development sectors; Kathryn Payton of Marketing Concepts and Cecilia Russell from The Star marketing and media sectors.

Says sponsor Pace Property Group MD, David Green, “In addition to the increased numbers of entries, I’m also delighted that the quality of the entries is again of a very high standard, reflecting the talented and dedicated media who report on the property sector. Again, the awards reflect a very competitive pool of entrants. ”

Previous winners for the SAPOA 2008 Property Journalism Awards include Nick Wilson of Business Day (SAPOA Property News Journalist), Joan Muller of FinWeek (SAPOA Property Feature Journalist Award) and The Property Magazine, published by Media Nova (SAPOA Property Publication of the year).