“We have survived many setbacks in business, we have endured the terrible loadshedding, the dead-stop of the world economy, geopolitics and local politics spinning projections out of proportion, but now it is time to build,” says Linda Grimbeek, CEO of the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism (KLCBT)
“We must dig deep, and this is why our theme of 7 Cultures, 7 Colours for this year’s awards, is so appropriate. Let us take the inspiration from all seven of the cultures of the Lowveld and build a new, colourful Lowveld to honour and celebrate what we have.”
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Pronto Computer Solutions, a previous winner, is the main sponsor of this year’s event.
“The theme of 7 Cultures, 7 Colours, has been inspired by our seven cultures in the Lowveld: English, Afrikaans, Portuguese, Indian, Swazi, Shangaan and Agri-Culture. They are all very colourful cultures, but when we celebrate, we eat seven colours too,” says Linda.
She says the awards evening will showcase the food heritage from these cultures, but also the vibrant colours. That is quite a task and to blend it all together will be a challenge.
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“I then realised that the first person who had been inspired by all these cultures, was the legendary Nukain Mabuza who painted the Garden of Stone near Low’s Creek. Copies of his works adorn the entrances of Barberton and parts of his paintings became tourism logo icons, like our own Kruger Lowveld giraffe. I always appreciated his work as an artist but when I realised that he managed to put all the cultures and their colours together in beautiful art pieces, it all just clicked, and I found a renewed appreciation for his work – and new inspiration to revive the site as a tourism attraction.”
Linda also announced the master of ceremonies for the awards evening.
“We are happy to announce that, with the assistance of Pronto Computer Solutions, we can confirm that the bubbling Warrior Ric will be our master of ceremonies. Ric is a very positive person who was born in Panama, grew up in California and moved to South Africa in the 1990s. We arre looking forward to the energy and positivity he brings with him.”
The closing date for the KLCBT Awards entries is on us.
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“The awards have no public voting system or interview panels. We only do telephonic surveys with the nominee’s real clients, suppliers and staff members. We also look at the nominee’s community service as well as turnover growth. For the special categories, we look at the profile and impact of the project or the entity. And the beauty of these awards is that our smaller Lowveld businesses can compete against the big national firms.
“The entry form is available online, and the entry fee is only R400. Nominees will receive feedback on the survey and produce a short video of each finalist to flight at the night of the awards. This alone offers excellent value for money,” Linda says.
The annual awards have 14 categories:
- Small Business Enterprise
- Medium Business Enterprise
- Large Business Enterprise
- Tourism SMME
- Tourism Large Business Enterprise
- Best New Business
- Employer of the Year
- Charity of the Year
- Innovation Award
- Customer Service Award
- Green Excellence Award
- Community Contributor Award
To nominate a business for the prestigious 2026 KLCBT Annual Awards, get a nomination form here.
