SAB, South Africa's largest brewer, has aimed to recognise excellence in sporting journalism for close to four decades. "The judges were all extremely passionate about the industry," says convenor of judges John Perlman. "Comments from judges included that some of the entries were 'simply breath-taking and restored [their] faith in South African journalism'."

"Others spoke with equal passion about problems, [saying,] 'Because of the unrelenting pressure of daily shows, hourly bulletins and the beast of the 24-hour news cycle, a lack of creativity and originality has crept in'," adds Perlman. "Whether positive or negative, these sentiments reflect a desire to see South African sports journalism flourish. We aim to encourage new entrants into covering sport — increasing competition and further increasing quality of sports reporting."

"We are very proud of our deserving journalists who have done some excellent work," says Refilwe Masemola, SAB director of external communications: Africa Zone.
Winners in each category received a cash prize of R15 000. The winner of the Photography sub-category Action Shot of the Year and the Newcomer of the Year in each category received R5 000.

The awards also inducted soccer and rugby commentator Mthuthuzeli Scott into the SAB Sports Hall of Fame and acknowledged sports freelance writer Simnikiwe Xabanisa as the Sports Journalists' Journalist of the Year.

The SAB Sports Media Award winners for 2019 include:

Integrated media awards
  • Winner — Lloyd Burnard, News24.com
  • Newcomer of the Year (photography, written, video and audio media) — Joint award to Ahmed Kajee and Michael Pedro, both from EWN
Audio media awards
  • Sports Commentator of the Year — Johan Le Roux, Radio 2000
  • Sports Presenter of the Year — Thabiso Mosia, SAfm
  • Sports News Reporter of the Year — Mosibodi Whitehead, Kaya FM
  • Sports Producer of the Year — Jody Hendricks, RSG
  • Newcomer of the Year — Sibusiso Mjikeliso, TimesLive
Written media awards 
  • Sports Feature Writer of the Year — Sibusiso Mjikeliso, Freelance
  • Sports Columnist of the Year — Simnikiwe Xabanisa, City Press and SA Rugby Mag
  • Sports News Reporter of the Year — Marizanne Kok, Beeld and Rapport
  • Newcomer of the Year — Lorenz Kohler, Kick Off
Photography awards
  • Sports Photographer of the Year — Sydney Seshibedi, Gallo Images
  • Action Shot of the Year — Wessel Oosthuizen, SASPA
Video media awards
  • Sports Commentator of the Year —  Matthew Pearce, SuperSport
  • Sports News Reporter of the Year —  Ronald Masinda, eNCA
  • Sports Producer of the Year —  Tyrone Bailey, SuperSport
  • Sports Presenter of the Year —  Julia Stuart, SuperSport
  • Newcomer of the Year —  Benjamin Leshoro, Newzroom Afrika
General awards
  • Journalists' Journalist of the Year — Simnikiwe Xabanisa, freelancer
  • Hall of Fame — Mthuthuzeli Scott, SABC
Judging panel

Convenor — John Perlman

In the Video Media Category:
  • Dinesh Gangaram
  • Sias du Plessis
  • Vata Ngobeni
In the Audio Media Category:
  • Beverly Maphangwa
  • Marcelle Gordon
  • Thabiso Tema

In the Photography Category:
  • Dudu Mathebula
  • Robin Comley
  • Sandile Ndlovu
In Written Media:
  • De Jongh Borchardt
  • Matshelane Mamabolo
  • Mninawa Ntloko 
In Digital Media:
  • Cindy Poluta
  • Eddie Martinuzzi
  • Simon Borchardt