Mamaili Mamaila

Sports, Arts and Culture

Nominee's Province:
Limpopo

Project Name/Description:
Data journalism

More info:

Mamaili Mamaila’s interest in sport data was piqued while studying data journalism as part of her BA Honours in Journalism and Media Studies at Wits University last year. Born in Fochville, on the West Rand, Gauteng, but growing up in Burgersfort, Limpopo, Mamaila realised that data journalism had not been explored thoroughly in South Africa. Last year, she joined the Media Hack Collective’s local football publication, The Outlier, as an investigative reporter, specialising in storytelling and visualisations, and delved into sports data. Mamaila, 27, saw sports data as an alternative entry point for women wanting to become sports journalists as it allows for the exploration of interesting and revolutionary story angles. “It completely places the power in their hands and eliminates the hoops they have to go through in this male-dominated space to finally do the work that matters and get the recognition they deserve,” she says.