whis is the Heart Boy?

All is Revealed After Vuka! Awards Ceremony

It would be difficult for anyone who owns a TV set, listens to the radio or reads a newspaper, not to be aware of the enigmatic “Heart Boy”; the sweet young kid who’s been interrupting reporters and presenters by appearing out of the blue, giving them a little red heart, and then melting into the distance as quickly as he’d arrived.

Of course, by now, some people may have twigged that he is linked to M-Net’s Vuka! Campaign; the annual competition which encourages the Advertising and Film industry to make pro bono adverts for important social causes and charities.

This year, the theme for the creatives was “art with a heart” – and the entire advertising industry got behind the Vuka! Awards. Newcomers and Professionals all working to find creative and inspiring ways to create awareness about pressing social issues and encouraging South Africans to get involved.

The 2010 M-Net Vuka! Award winners were announced and crowned at a glittering ceremony in Kyalami on Tuesday night, November 30th. But what of the young sprite himself? Who is the boy that’s been winning hearts - in addition to handing them out?

The 12 year-old charmer, it turns out, is Katlego Dlamini, a Grade Six pupil at Theo Wassenar Laerskool in . He loves attending school and his favourite subject is science, although he’s also very involved in his school’s extracurricular activities, such as cricket, soccer, chess and swimming.

Katlego is also an aspiring actor who learned to get over his initial nerves after his first audition at the age of six - and has never looked back. Acting, he says, gives him a break from playing with his friends, and he also gets a kick from seeing himself on TV. Despite his passion for soccer and acting, however, he seems to have other plans for his future, and insists that his goal is to become a heart surgeon. What is it with Katlego and hearts?

Said M-Net’s Director of Corporate Marketing and Communications, Koo Govender: “Katlego was the perfect ambassador for M-Net’s Vuka! Campaign. He showed us all that a small gesture with a good heart can have a huge impact.”

Perhaps most revealing of all was a comment that Katlego made when his identity was revealed yesterday: “I just like to make people smile!”