{"id":43402,"date":"2026-10-20T09:35:40","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T07:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/?p=43402"},"modified":"2026-10-20T09:35:42","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T07:35:42","slug":"content-creator-awards-2026-winners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/content-creator-awards-2026-winners\/","title":{"rendered":"Content Creator Awards 2026 Winners: Grace Mondlana Is Samsung Galaxy Creator Of The Year As Lasizwe, Vafa Naraghi And Noko Mashaba Also Win Big"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">South Africa\u2019s top digital storytellers were honoured at the 2026 Content Creator Awards on Saturday, 17 October, at The Galleria in Sandton. Thembisa-born creator Grace Mondlana walked away with the night\u2019s biggest prize, the Samsung Galaxy Creator of the Year Award.<\/p><div id=\"gaute-1615726511\" class=\"gaute-after-paragraph-1 gaute-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;\"><div class=\"gaute-adlabel\">Advertisement<\/div><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1852772760112594\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1852772760112594\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1819787043\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mondlana and comedian Vafa Naraghi each took home two awards. Lasizwe was named YouTube Creator of the Year, and the animated hit <em>The Adventures of Noko Mashaba<\/em> won the Telkom Best Online Series Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Grace Mondlana Crowned Creator Of The Year<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mondlana was named Samsung Galaxy Creator of the Year, a public-vote category, and also won the Trendsetter Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Born in Thembisa in 2001, Mondlana started creating content during the COVID-19 pandemic while she was working as a teacher. She has since built a following with lifestyle vlogs, motivational content, wellness tips and relatable everyday videos on YouTube and TikTok. Her brand partnerships include Coca-Cola, Cadbury, KFC and Takealot, and she became the first brand ambassador for GWM South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The win completes a fast rise at these awards. In 2024 she won the Emerging Creator Award, and two years later she has taken the top prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She beat a strong shortlist for Creator of the Year that included Donovan Goliath, Nadia Jaftha, Primo9teen and fellow double winner Vafa Naraghi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Full List Of 2026 Content Creator Awards Winners<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Award<\/th><th>Winner<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Samsung Galaxy Creator of the Year Award<\/td><td>Grace Mondlana<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>YouTube Creator of the Year Award<\/td><td>Lasizwe<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>BYD People\u2019s Choice Award<\/td><td>Olwethu Ncapayi<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Emerging Creator Award, backed by Creator Club<\/td><td>Sine_rsa_<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Cars.co.za Automotive Content Award<\/td><td>Tebogo Moropa<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>#CapturedWithGalaxy Award<\/td><td>Kaytee Shots<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Dance Creator Award<\/td><td>Chad Jones<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Style Award<\/td><td>Yasmin Furmie<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Best Comedy Content Creator Award<\/td><td>Ikho<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>947 Sound of Tomorrow Award<\/td><td>Mikhal\u00e9 Jones<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Excellence in Branded Content Award<\/td><td>Oliver Agency for Cleanipedia presents <em>Bakhombise<\/em><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Trendsetter Award<\/td><td>Grace Mondlana<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Podcast of the Year Award<\/td><td>SMWX<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Impact Creator Award<\/td><td>Josh Wide Awake<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Best Social Series Award<\/td><td>Vafa Naraghi<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Telkom Best Online Series Award<\/td><td><em>The Adventures of Noko Mashaba<\/em><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Thumbstopping Award<\/td><td>Vafa Naraghi<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Best Creator x Brand Collaboration Award<\/td><td>Nabilah Kariem for Le Creuset<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Expert Voices Award<\/td><td>Miss Angler<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Wildcard Award<\/td><td>Lindosasmr<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>ALSO READ:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/how-to-become-a-content-creator-and-actually-make-money\/\">How To Become A Content Creator And Actually Make Money<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Winners In The Spotlight<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Vafa Naraghi: Best Social Series And Thumbstopping Award<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Comedian and content creator Vafa Naraghi was the night\u2019s other double winner, taking the Best Social Series Award and the Thumbstopping Award. He\u2019s known for multilingual comedy and social commentary on language, culture and identity in South Africa. His viral sketches draw on everyday South African experiences. In 2025 he took his first national solo stand-up tour, <em>Becoming South African<\/em>, around the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lasizwe: YouTube Creator Of The Year<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Soweto-born Lasizwe (Thulasizwe Dambuza) won the YouTube Creator of the Year Award, a public-vote category. He\u2019s one of South Africa\u2019s best-known YouTubers, with more than a million subscribers. His shows include the celebrity interview series <em>Drink or Tell the Truth<\/em>, <em>Awkward Dates<\/em> and the comedy series <em>Nomatriquency: The Funeral<\/em>, built around his much-loved character Nomatriquency. He beat Centtwinz, Noko Mashaba, Shev and Dev, SMWX and Zayaan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Adventures Of Noko Mashaba: Telkom Best Online Series<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More than a decade after its first episode in 2013, <em>The Adventures of Noko Mashaba<\/em> is still winning awards. Created by self-taught animator Jonas Lekganyane, the 2D animated satire follows Noko, an ordinary man from Limpopo, through mysteries and urban legends. It\u2019s told mainly in Sepedi, mixed with English, isiZulu, Setswana and street slang. Lekganyane chose Sepedi on purpose, to help preserve his home language. The series was also a nominee for YouTube Creator of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Olwethu Ncapayi: BYD People\u2019s Choice Award<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The BYD People\u2019s Choice Award was decided by public SMS vote, and it went to Olwethu Ncapayi. Ncapayi beat a shortlist that included Anika Dambuza (The City Makoti), Garfieldzar, Grace Mondlana and Tanaka Dube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Emerging Talent And Niche Voices<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The awards also recognised creators in specialist areas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Sine_rsa_<\/strong> won the Emerging Creator Award, backed by Creator Club.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tebogo Moropa<\/strong> won the Cars.co.za Automotive Content Award.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Miss Angler<\/strong> won the Expert Voices Award.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lindosasmr<\/strong> won the Wildcard Award.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kaytee Shots<\/strong> won the new #CapturedWithGalaxy Award, which Samsung introduced this year with a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 as the prize.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How The Winners Were Chosen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Five categories were decided by <strong>public SMS vote<\/strong>: Creator of the Year, YouTube Creator of the Year, Cars.co.za Automotive, Emerging Creator and People\u2019s Choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The remaining categories were judged by a panel of <strong>55 industry judges<\/strong> from South Africa\u2019s content, media and entertainment industries. For the first time, the awards held in-person judging sessions in Johannesburg and Cape Town, as well as two weeks of virtual judging. The judging criteria were developed with the Interactive Advertising Bureau of South Africa (IAB SA) to make results more consistent and credible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Entries closed on 5 July, nominees were announced in August and winners were revealed at the Sandton gala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About The Content Creator Awards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.contentcreatorawards.co.za\/winners\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Content Creator Awards<\/a> were founded in 2022 by Manuela Dias de Deus, founder of the agency One-eyed Jack, at a time when many creators still had to defend content creation as a real career. The awards are run as a non-profit that puts sponsorship money back into creator workshops, training and industry growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur responsibility has shifted from legitimising the industry to raising the benchmark for excellence,\u201d said Dias de Deus when this year\u2019s nominees were announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Samsung Galaxy joined as title sponsor this year. Other partners included YouTube, Telkom, BYD, Cars.co.za, 947, eVOD, Creator Club, Humanz and Ray-Ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCreators are shaping culture, influencing purchasing decisions and redefining storytelling every single day,\u201d said Rae Hargreaves, Head of Marketing: Mobile eXperience at Samsung South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"gaute-92530351\" class=\"gaute-inbetween-content gaute-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><div class=\"gaute-adlabel\">Advertisement<\/div><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1852772760112594\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1852772760112594\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1819787043\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who Won Creator Of The Year At The 2026 Content Creator Awards?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Grace Mondlana won the Samsung Galaxy Creator of the Year Award. She also won the Trendsetter Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When And Where Were The 2026 Content Creator Awards Held?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The awards were held on Saturday, 17 October 2026, at The Galleria in Sandton, Johannesburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who Won YouTube Creator Of The Year?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lasizwe won the YouTube Creator of the Year Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who Won The People\u2019s Choice Award?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Olwethu Ncapayi won the BYD People\u2019s Choice Award, which was decided by public vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who Won More Than One Award?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Grace Mondlana (Creator of the Year and Trendsetter) and Vafa Naraghi (Best Social Series and Thumbstopping) each won two awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Are The Content Creator Award Winners Chosen?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Five categories are decided by public SMS vote. The rest are judged by a panel of industry judges using criteria developed with IAB South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What This Means For Gauteng\u2019s Creator Economy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the ceremony held in Sandton and the top prize going to a creator from Thembisa, Gauteng was at the centre of this year\u2019s awards. The winners show how wide South Africa\u2019s creator economy has become, from comedy, dance and fashion to podcasts, animation, ASMR and branded content. They also show that local stories told in local languages can reach big audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For young people in the province thinking about content creation as a career, this year\u2019s winners prove that consistency, a clear voice and strong storytelling can turn a phone and an idea into a business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Africa\u2019s top digital storytellers were honoured at the 2026 Content Creator Awards on Saturday, 17 October, at The Galleria in Sandton. Thembisa-born creator Grace Mondlana walked away with the night\u2019s biggest prize, the Samsung Galaxy Creator of the Year Award. Mondlana and comedian Vafa Naraghi each took home two awards. Lasizwe was named YouTube<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":43403,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"Content Creator Awards,Vafa Naraghi,Creator Economy,Samsung Galaxy","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"See the full list of Content Creator Awards 2026 winners, as Grace Mondlana is named Creator of the Year and Lasizwe wins YouTube Creator of the Year.","footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":""},"categories":[1707,1706],"tags":[9735,2356],"ppma_author":[11567],"class_list":["post-43402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrity-news","category-entertainment","tag-lifestyle","tag-news"],"authors":[{"term_id":11567,"user_id":7,"is_guest":0,"slug":"makhosazane","display_name":"Makhosazane","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/08ae8e4b9b86dbda0979f667ab20cfeaa3877eb672acde59c0901ed43e1c05ab?s=96&r=g","author_category":"1","first_name":"Makhosazane","last_name":"Jiyane","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":"As an SEO Content Editor with a background in journalism and digital media, I have a passion for crafting high-quality, engaging, and informative content that connects with audiences and ranks on search engines. I believe in the power of storytelling, data-driven insights, and digital innovation to transform how information is shared and consumed. Through my work, I strive to make a meaningful impact - one article at a time."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43402"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43404,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43402\/revisions\/43404"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43402"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=43402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}