TREVOR NOAH -
COMEDIAN Trevor Noah is the first recipient of the South African of the Year accolade.
Calls to vote for remarkable South Africans who had achieved global recognition in their chosen field went out on social media platform Twitter on Monday.
Noah was a narrow winner over cricketer AB de Villiers and sprinter Wayde van Niekerk.
“The South African of the Year is someone who with a single phenomenal achievement made you extremely proud of being South African,” Jan Braai, the man behind the National Braai Day initiative and now the South African of the Year project, said.
Noah, already a household name in South Africa, was nominated for reaching even greater heights this year when it was announced in March that he would replace Jon Stewart as the host of Comedy Central’s popular The Daily Show.
“We can achieve great things in South Africa, Trevor is leading the way, raising our spirits and showing that anything is possible,” Braai said.
Voting ran until midnight on Wednesday.
De Villiers, Van Niekerk and Team MTNQhubeka were also in the running.
De Villiers was nominated for his 149 against the West Indies in January, which included the fastest century ever in a One-Day International off just 31 balls.
On July 18, Team MTN-Qhubeka, the first South African and African team to ever compete in the Tour de France, made history when team member Steve Cummings sprinted to a surprise victory on stage 14.
In August, Van Niekerk stunned the athletics world when he won a gold medal in the 400m at the IAAF World Championships.
His time of 43.48sec makes him the fourth fastest person ever to run the 400m and the fastest non-American in that discipline.
– Herald Reporter
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