Minister Rob Davies, Proudly South African’s Leslie Sedibe and award-winner Richard Maponya.

The second annual South African Premier Business Awards (Sapba) due to take place in March promises to be one of the highlights of this year’s business calendar.

Sapba is a partnership between the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Proudly South African and Brand South Africa.

Following the success of last year’s inaugural event, the awards encourage and celebrate South African entrepreneurs who promote job creation and a strong work ethic.

Winner of the inaugural Sapba Lifetime Achievement Award and property developer magnate, Richard Maponya, says “I was very grateful and honoured to receive an award and make quite a good impression on small businesses.

This year I am also a finalist and I look forward to winning the award again,” laughs Maponya.

Maponya started his career as a teacher and later moved on to become a successful entrepreneur.

He is the owner of the Mapoya Group which was formed in 1997 and their core business is property development and project management.

The Maponya Mall in Soweto is one of the largest shopping centres in the country and is jointly owned by Maponya, Investec and Zenprop Property Holdings.

According to DTI spokesperson Sidwell Medupe, a two-step adjudication process was put in place.

Finalists were selected by a pre-selection panel of judges and site visits were done on behalf of the judges. There are 16 award categories:

Top Manufacturer Award
Rural Development Award
Exporter Award
Media Award
Most Empowered Enter-prise Award
SMME Award
Technology Award
Quality Award
Young Entrepreneur Award
Women Enterprise Award
Investor Award
Proudly South African Enterprise Award
Green Award
Corporate SME Supplier Development Award
Play Your Part Award
Lifetime Achievement Award.

Businesses may not enter for more than three categories.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony on Wednesday, 19 March.

Go to www.sapremierbusinessawards.co.za