WGSA Muse Awards A Roaring Success

The 4th edition of the prestigious WGSA Muse Awards took place on Saturday the 11th of February at the Market Theatre in Newtown, Johannesburg. Attended by prominent writers, media practitioners and the who’s who of the South African film and television industry, the Awards ceremony was a true celebration of the talented performance writers of South Africa. Themed, “Writers Uprising” the ceremony was hosted by popular actress, radio host and producer Dineo Lusenga, who emphasized the importance of performance writers standing up and fighting for their rights throughout the evening. Gifted poet and singer Jessica Mbangeni provided the entertainment for the evening. For the first time, the ceremony also had spoken word performances by Xabiso Vili, Ross Henshall and Sivan Raphaely.

This year the WGSA received a record number of entries. For the first time, we received entries in Setswana and Sepedi. Due to the high volume of entries in the TV Drama category, there were three subcategories.

Congratulations to all of the finalists. The winners in the various categories are:

  • Animation script: Paul Ian Johnson and Wayne Thornley for “Savannah”
  • Documentary script: Uga Carlini for “Alison”
  • TV Comedy / Sitcom script: Both Worlds Team – Karen Jeynes, Nkuli Sibeko, Chris McEvoy, Thierry Cassuto for “Puppet Nation Ep 133”
  • Produced TV Drama Script: Salah Sabiti for “Ya Lla Season 1 Ep 10
  • TV Drama Spec Script: Paul Ian Johnson for From “The Files of S.I.U.”
  • TV Soaps / Telenovella Script: Steven Pillemer for “Gold Diggers Season 1 Ep 155”
  • Stage Play Script: Callum Tilbury and Roland Perold for “The Pitch”
  • Radio Drama Script: Paul Ian Johnson for “Vigilante”
  • Short Film Script: Gavin Sher for “Beast”
  • Feature Film Spec Script: Lesiba Thitshere Maphoso for “Mr President” (script in Sepedi)
  • GFC’s Top Gauteng Writer: Salah Sabiti for “Ya Lla Season 1 Ep 10”. This award is sponsored by the Gauteng Film Commission.

    A special service award was presented to Peter Michael Goldsmid, former WGSA Vice-chair: Legal Services in acknowledgement of his outstanding service to the WGSA.

​The WGSA would like to thank all the WGSA Muse Awards sponsors for making the ceremony possible and for contributing to the winners’ prizes. The Gold Sponsor was MNET and the Awards Sponsor was the Gauteng Film Commission. Our other sponsors are the KZN Film Commission, Veronica Stewart, Plum Media, University of Johannesburg and Passion Seed Communications. Our Media Partner – TicketStroom.

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By Andrew Germishuys

Founder of SAMDB | Actor | Armourer | Tech Enthusiast With over two decades in the film industry, I'm a seasoned actor and skilled armourer. I hold numerous certifications in acting and filmmaking, complemented by degrees and diplomas in IT and technology, giving me a unique blend of creative and technical expertise. When I'm not on set or in the workshop, you'll find me immersed in the world of gaming and VR, fuelling my passion for cutting-edge technology. Connect with me: X / Twitter Facebook Instagram Mastodon Threads Explore my work on SAMDB IMDb