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Johannesburg, South Africa: The South African Guild of Motoring Journalists (SAGMJ) today announced the jury and trainee Jury members for the 2019 AutoTrader South African Car Of The Year.
The finalist announcement is scheduled for November (final date to be determined), and on March 11-12 2019 the jury will put the finalists through stringent testing.
Wheels24's Janine Van der Post will be an official judge of the competition.
The SA Guild of Motoring Journalists is the custodian of the South African Car Of The Year competition since 1986, a long-standing heritage of awarding automotive excellent.
READ: New era for SA Car of the Year: vehicle categories, public vote, a new sponsor and more!
Innovation planned for the 2019 competition includes the introduction of individual categories alongside one overall winner; a re-engineered qualifying period to ensure the bulk of the new releases in September are included; and the all important inclusion of the consumer vote.
The South African Car of the Year award has always been a pivotal moment in the motoring year, a decree that shapes both motoring interest and sales for the year to come.
The eligibility period for vehicle ranges that may be considered for the 2019 AutoTrader South African Car Of The Year competition closes at midnight on October 31 2018. Shortly Full members of the SAGMJ will have the opportunity to cast their vote to determine which of these vehicle ranges will be the competition’s semi-finalists, after which the Jury will cast their vote on the semi-finalists in order to determine the finalists for the 2019 AutoTrader South African Car Of The Year competition.
What do you think of the 'new' SA Car of the Year competition? Email us
The criteria for Jury eligibility includes:
• All candidates must be members in good standing with the SAGMJ
• A Full Member must have completed a minimum of one year of Jury training. Full members who do not comply with this requirement will be considered for the jury training programme
• A Jury member must be active members of the SAGMJ for a minimum of five years
• A Jury member must be an industry-recognised journalist who has participated in the industry by attending manufacturer launch events, and/or by driving test vehicles during the eligibility period
• Not more than two individual Full Members from the same publication may serve on the Jury
Following a vote by the Full membership of the SAGMJ, the following members of the Guild have been nominated and vetted as the Jury and Trainees for the 2019 competition, and have confirmed their participation:
2019 South African Car Of The Year Jurors (in alphabetical order)
1. Carl Wepener
2. Charleen Clarke
3. Colin Windell
4. Derek Watts
5. Dirk Gallowitz
6. Egmont Sippel
7. Ferdi de Vos
8. Francisco Nwamba
9. Gerrie Smit
10. Hannes Visser
11. Janine-Lee Van der Post
12. Jason Woosey
13. Jeanette Kok-Kritzinger
14. Justus Visagie
15. Lerato Matebese
16. Mabuyane Kekana
17. Marnus Hattingh
18. Pritesh Ruthun
19. Ray Leathern
20. Reuben van Niekerk
21. Roger McCleery
22. Rubin van Niekerk
23. Sean Nurse
24. Stuart Johnston
25. Wynter Murdoch
Reserve Juror
1. Liana Reiners
2019 South African Car Of The Year Trainee Jurors (in alphabetical order)
1. Lawrence Smith
2. Melinda Ferguson
3. Sergio Davids
4. Sisanda Mbete
5. Vuyo Mpofu
The criteria for Trainee Jury eligibility includes:
• All candidates must be members in good standing with the SAGMJ
• Trainee Jury members must be active members of the SAGMJ for a minimum of three years
• A Trainee Jury member must be an industry-recognised journalist who has participated in the industry by attending manufacturer launch events, and/or by driving test vehicles during the eligibility period
