The awards ceremony was scheduled to take place on 5 April 2020 at the Houghton Hotel in Johannesburg.
“We have been monitoring the developments around the virus closely over the last few weeks and we were aware that a cancellation of the awards was a possibility. We acknowledge that the PR and communication industry at large will be disappointed, however, this decision has been taken with their health and safety in mind,” said Palesa Madumo, Prism Awards convenor.
On 15 March 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster and announced safety measures and precautions to be put in place over the next weeks, which, amongst others, include the following:
- Prohibiting gatherings of 100 or more people
- Closure of schools from 18 March 2020 until after the Easter holidays
- Cancellation of celebrations for upcoming national days and government events
- Closure of some ports of entries to South Africa
- Travel ban to high-risk countries
- Cancellation of visas for travellers from high risk areas
The Prisms committee will be in contact with all individuals, agencies and organisations that have entered the 2020 awards and additional information will be shared with them in due course.
Refunds will be given to all those who have purchased tickets, please contact Louise Struwig on az.oc.asirp@esiuol should you have any questions relating to the refund.
“We are considering a number of options to still ensure that entrants and the ultimate winners of the awards are acknowledged and celebrated. We will make this information available once finalised,” concluded Madumo.
Follow the Prism Awards on social media @theprismawards @YoungVoices2020 #PrismAwards20.
