Every year, a few good men stand out from the crowd, they capture our imagination, influence our thinking and inspire us in our daily lives. It is these men that have inspired Men's Health, South Africa's leading male lifestyle magazine to launch Best Man - the first-ever awards programme to acknowledge the country's achievers.
"Men's Health Best Man awards are the first all-encompassing awards that recognise the extraordinary qualities of South African men across all sectors," explains Jason Brown, Editor of Men's Health magazine. "This event is about celebrating the achievements of men out there who make a huge difference in their field and are an inspiration to us all. Being the magazine men live by, Men's Health is perfectly positioned to recognise these great role models in our society."
Men's Health Magazine devised a survey that was published in the March issue. The aim of the survey was to stimulate some in-depth thinking about South African men and their achievements, by asking them to nominate their choice of finalists across seven categories including Sport, Business, Science & Technology, Arts & Culture, Public Service and Media, as well as selecting a Men's Health Pioneer.
Once all nominations were collated, a panel of experts faced the challenging task of selecting four finalists per category.
A gala fundraising event (sponsored by Edgars, Sanlam, Aramis Life and Breitling), will take place on Thursday, 20 May 2004 at the Arabella Sheraton Grand Hotel on Cape Town's foreshore to honour the "Men's Health Best Man 2004" and all the finalists. Winners in each category will also be featured in the July issue of Men's Health.
The plan is to build the Men's Health Best Man event into an annual celebration, to become South Africa's most significant stock-taking of home-grown achievements of today's leaders of men.
The finalists are:
1. Sport
Ernst Van Dyk
Jacques Kallis
John 'Shoes' Moshoeu
Sibusiso Vilane
2. Business
Adrian Gore
Robert Brozin
Patrice Motsepe
Tokyo Sexwale
3. Science & Technology
Mark Shuttleworth
Vivian Alberts
Noel Jacobs
Johan Kirsten
4. Arts & Culture
Johnny Clegg
John Kani
David Kau
Kabelo Mabalane
5. Public Service
Zackie Achmat
Taddy Blecher
Ian Scher
Ian Player
6. Media
Tim Modise
Benginkosi 'Zola' Dlamini
Robert Marawa
John Perlman
7. Pioneer
Mark Shuttleworth
Touchline Media
