And the Newsmaker of 2007 is...

2008-02-15 12:23

Cape Town - African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma has been named as News24's Newsmaker of the year for 2007.

News24, South Africa's top website, has named Zuma after users voted for the candidate of their choice in an online poll.

Zuma received 37% of the vote while World Cup winning coach, Jake White, received 34%.

Jannie Momberg, News24 Editor says the result illustrates the growing importance of politics to South Africans.

"Zuma's ongoing legal problems around the corruption allegations and his stunning victory over Thabo Mbeki in the political arena juxtaposed a year of incredible highs and lows," says Momberg.

Anton Harber, Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand and former News24 columnist, believes the result of the poll was to be expected.

"It is not a surprise result. Like it or not, Zuma has done much to shape the South African story in the last year.

"What is unusual is that he should have made the news in both the politics and crime categories. That says a lot, doesn't it?"

Complete list of results:

Jacob Zuma - 38%
Jake White - 34%
Manto Tshabalala-Msimang - 5%
Jackie Selebi - 5%
Bok van Blerk - 4%
Dina Rodrigues - 3%
Lucky Dube - 2%
Thabo Mbeki - 2%
Bob Woolmer - 2%
Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge - 2%
Tito Mboweni - 1%
Jaco Maree - 1%
Robert McBride - 1%

- News24