The 16th Annual Business Day BASA Awards,
supported by Anglo American, took place recently in Johannesburg.
For the first time there was a double
winner in the Youth Development Award category with the judging panel selecting
both Sasol Limited for the South African National Youth Orchestra and Rand
Merchant Bank for the Durban Music School.
Rand Merchant Bank has given funding to the
Durban Music School for the past seven years. The school embarked on an
ambitious project to teach 120 children from the Open Air School (which caters
for physically disabled children) how to play a musical instrument. Rand
Merchant Bank has covered the costs needed since then. The children perform in
concerts at their school and at the Durban Music School.
Another KZN project acknowledged was the
partnership set out to create a unique heritage and cultural site that would
mark the capture of Nelson Mandela in 1962 and boost the Midlands Meander
tourist economy. The most visible aspect of the project is the large-scale
sculpture by Marco Cianfanelli which currently attracts up to 700 people a day.
Ukhozi FM received the Media Sponsorship
Award for the Unyaka Wesethembiso
Season 2. Unyaka Wesethembiso is a
joint venture between Ingede Consortium and Ukhozi FM where creative material
is read live on Ukhozi FM allowing listeners thereof to pre-empt the end of the
story line using their creative thinking. It is also an initiative reaching out
to emerging writers through seminars and workshops on creative writing.
“We’re thrilled to have grown South
Africa’s only awards recognising business arts partnerships,” comments Business
and Arts South Africa CEO, Michelle Constant. “At the very core of what we do
are successful partnerships that contribute to the sustainability of the arts
but that also benefit both parties in that relationship. This year, the
nominees and the winners once again show that there is real value in business
partnering with the arts to reach their markets, and achieve shared value.”
“The BASA Awards are always a powerful
reminder to the South African business community that, just outside their door,
is a society filled with an abundance of different arts,” says Peter Bruce,
Business Day Editor-In-Chief. “Each year we get a chance to see what happens
when businesses, big or small, partner with projects in this society to create
something that has a significant impact on everyone involved. It’s the best
thing in Business Day’s calendar.”
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