Our Experience at the Feather Awards 2023
Love Coincidentally attended The Feather Awards 2023, which took place on Thursday night, 09 November, at the Market Theatre in Newtown. Because, in case you missed it, we were nominated for the cutest couple category.
It was our first time attending the awards, and there were many colourful celebrities and socialites that were dressed to the nines, as we all were trying to #SolveforX, which was the theme for this year.
The Feather Awards 2023 continued to celebrate the importance of visibility for the LGBTQ+ community, acceptance, and breaking down barriers in society. While the constitution in South Africa is for us, the world is still unkind to members of the LGBTQ+ community, and we continue to be subjected to a lot of hate crimes and having to fight for our place in South Africa and in the world.
The awards were hosted by Refilwe and Bontle Modiselle alongside Andiswa P Gebashe, and they all brought their A game and did an amazing job.
And as you can imagine, the night was filled with a very colourful and bubbly crowd, quirky and heartwarming moments, a lot of entertainment, and unforgettable performances, Zama Jobe opened the stage with a powerful performance of her hit song Ndawo Yami, and wow, we knew it would be a night to remember.
The pink carpet was set to start at 17h30, and we got to the awards just after 18h00, and already it was buzzing. After getting our tags, we made our way to the pink carpet, snapped a few snaps and we were off for a drink and some snacks.
They served us some finger foods, which we totally appreciated, while the DJ was belting some nice music. It was a great start to the night, as the crowd got thicker and we got to enjoy more daring outfits.
The Feather Awards 2023 Winners
The first performance of the night was the amazing Zama Jobe, and we knew we were in for a treat. Of course we also enjoyed the powerful Thandiswa Mazwai perform . . . what a night it was!
The Simon Nkoli Award went to the talented, award-winning and proudly queer South African musical powerhouse Thandiswa Mazwai, deservedly so. When she accepted her speech, she said this, “I have been many things, but something I’ve always wanted to be is a gay icon, and tonight, I can safely say that I have that honour.”
She was honored at the awards as well, with different talented musicians performing some of her songs, it was really beautiful to experience.
Trans personality Yaya Mavundla and model and DJ PonaHalo jointly won Best Styled Individual. What got me was how emotional Yaya Mavundla got when she accepted her award, understandably so. She wore an outfit that had headlines addressing hate crimes and the horrific “grindr gang” attacks on LGBTIQ+ community members, which was super powerful.
After the awards, there was a dope after party, where we could mingle some more with the other attendees. Unfortunately we couldn’t stay as long as we wanted, because we had work the next morning.
The Feather Awards 2023 were a night of fun, recognition and powerful moments for our community , we met great people and had a great time.
Here is the full list of the winners:
Best Styled Individual
PonaHalo and Yaya Mavundla
Hunk of the Year
Thembinkosi Mthembu
Diva Extraordinaire of the Year
Mrs Mops
Sports Personality of the Year
Andile Dlamini
Role Model of the Year
Tony Kruger
Cutest Couple
Buhlebendalo and Botshelo
Hot Chick of the Year
Homba Mazaleni
Media Award of the Year
YFM’s “The Lunch League” and the “Sowetan’s” “S Mag”
Fag Hag of the Year
Tamara Dey
Designer of the Year
Otiz Seflo
Musician of the Year
Bongezizwe Mabandla
Socialite (Seen at every opening of an envelope or an erection of a stop sign)
Tshiamo
Drama Queen
Lebo M
Social Media Personality of the Year
Sabelo The Creator
Best LGBTIQ+ Initiative: Private Sector
Nike
Best LGBTIQ+ Youth Movement
Phuti Lekoloane Foundation
Best Rainbow Parenting
Zodwa Rannyadi and Nandipha Jovuka and Abraham Sebidi
African Feather of the Year
Samuel Matsikure
