Cape Town – Former African News Agency (ana) and Independent Media photographer Cindy Waxa said her award-winning entry for the Vodacom Journalist of the Year was for someone to be held accountable.
Waxa’s feature, published in the Cape Times, detailed the ordeal of Lizeka Ncede, a Philippi mother whose health markedly deteriorated after her son, Bongile Ncede, was shot outside his home by unknown assailants, in the Mesiya informal settlement, last year.
Bongile, 23, was paralysed from the waist down and relied on his mother, who was forced to stop working and take care of him. In her feature, Waxa also captures how neighbours came to the family’s rescue, offering to do their chores almost daily.
Waxa was awarded the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award in the Photography category, in the Western Cape, on Thursday.
“I wanted someone to be held accountable. That is our job, as photographers and journalists, because the Ncede family were continuously fed empty promises instead of being assisted. How can someone live in such conditions whereby rats even feed on him?
“When I heard about this story, I didn’t jump to do it because it might be an award-winning story but I used the only tool I knew to make a difference which was my lens.
“Today the family’s dignity is restored and their life is improving. I follow up on every story that I do because, for me, this is more than a job,” Waxa said.
The story touched many readers, with some offering to donate food, money and a wheelchair for the bedridden Bongile.
“Although I am honoured to be bestowed the award, stories like these cannot be celebrated because of their nature.
“I’m grateful to everyone at Independent Media for providing the platform and the photographers for their support and love,” Waxa said.
In announcing Waxa as the winner, judges said: “Many claim that South Africa’s health system is on the brink of collapse. We have witnessed the tragedy of Health Esidimeni, KZN’s oncology crisis, and many more over the recent past.
"Our winner’s heart-wrenching photo essay shows an ailing mother’s daily struggle to care for her grown paralysed son. Here, a mother’s devotion knows no boundaries - not poverty, not pain, not even death can end it.”
ANA regional content manager Courtney Africa said: “We are immensely proud of Cindy’s achievement. Very few have an eye for beautiful imagery like Cindy, this award is a testament to this.”