The Duduza Heroes Awards 2022 are an annual project hosted by Community Witness Media; a non-profit company founded by Esau Dlamini.( 34) “Duduza one of the townships in Ekurhuleni that is still underdeveloped with staggering figures of drug abuse, crime, and unemployment. Despite the challenges, it has a rich history and has produced many prominent figures. The main aim is to recognize and celebrate great pioneers/individuals who have created positive change and continue to bring development towards making a community a better place.
“This is our first competition and we have received an overwhelming response since the inception of this project. We created a platform on social media where community members nominated people who they feel have made a significant contribution to improving their neighbourhood within different categories (Education, Business, Health, Sports, Art, and Entertainment). The Duduza Heroes Awards will be held on Friday, the 30th of September 2022 and the venue is still to be confirmed. We have also invited well-known people and celebrities as special guests such as Thembi Nyandeni, Masechaba Khumalo, Dr Noma Mbeki and many more.
Esau is a veteran journalist who has more than 10 years of experience in print and broadcast. It was when he was still studying journalism at Tshwane University of Technology when he first got introduced into radio, starting off as a newsreader for a campus radio station, TUT FM. In 2009 he joined JOZI FM, as a current affairs and talk show producer.