Now in its fourth year, the Iwisa No.1 Community Champions Competition has become one of the country’s most loved purpose-led platforms: celebrating township, rural and peri-urban MSMEs that are tackling South Africa’s most pressing challenges, from food insecurity and youth unemployment to education inequality, health and environmental sustainability. The competition gives these everyday changemakers a national stage to be seen, supported and celebrated for the extraordinary impact they are creating, often against the odds.
“This year’s competition arrives at a particularly meaningful moment,” explains Phumzile Nhlapo, Senior Brand Manager of Maize, Breakfast and Pasta at Premier FMCG. “This year, Iwisa No.1 is celebrating 70 years of nourishing South African families – seven decades of being welcomed into homes, around dinner tables and into communities across the country. To mark this milestone, we are launching the 2026 competition under a new theme: “Heroes, Heroines and Heritage” – a tribute to both the legacy that has carried the brand for 70 years, and to the people who continue to write the next chapter of that story in their own communities.
“Seventy years is more than a number,” she continues. “It is a promise kept, in every home, every morning, every meal that gave a family the strength to face another day. Our heritage was built on the belief that when we come together around something real, extraordinary things grow. The Iwisa No 1 Community Champions competition is the most authentic expression of that belief. It finds the heroes and heroines already at work in our communities, equips them, celebrates them and walks with them long after the spotlight fades.”
The competition officially opens on 15 May 2026 and runs across four regions: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng and Western Cape. It is open to social enterprises that have been operating formally for more than two years and address a clear social or environmental issue challenging their communities. “We’re deliberately launching in the lead-up to Youth Month,” explains Nhlapo. “So much of the positive change happening in our communities is being driven by young South Africans and year-on-year they remain some of our most inspiring entrants – looking at pervasive challenges in new ways and finding solutions where others only see problems.”
Applications close on 12 July 2026 and must be submitted using the application form available on the Iwisa No.1 website: https://qr.premierfmcg.com/website/2000
In a major development for 2026, the prize value has increased to a total of R600 000 to be invested across the four provinces. “The R70 000 first prize amount is a direct celebration of Iwisa No 1’s ‘70 years of f1lling good together’ in our communities and speaks to our ongoing commitment of earning the right to operate in these regions.”
The final events in each province with see three winners share R150 000 in cash prizes: R70 000 for first place, R50 000 for second and R30 000 for third. In addition, every regional winner will receive a tailored support package including expert mentorship, skills development, business bootcamp participation and direct networking access to Premier FMCG’s stakeholder partners.
Nhlapo adds that finalists who do not place in the top three will not be left empty-handed: “They too gain access to skills development, expert support and networking opportunities, and become part of our growing national community of dynamic, game-changing social enterprises.”
In line with South Africa’s national development priorities and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the 2026 competition focuses on MSMEs creating tangible impact in food security and nutrition; education and skills development; health and wellbeing; clean and affordable energy; circular economy and recycling; and digital and tech innovation. “These are the sectors that will define the futures of our communities,” Nhlapo adds. “We want to find the people who are already building solutions in these spaces and help give them what they need to grow.”
In a world where good news doesn’t often dominate the headlines, the Iwisa No.1 Community Champions Competition remains a celebration of hope, heritage and purpose. It is a call to every hero and heroine quietly changing lives in their corner of South Africa.
“This is your moment. If you are a social entrepreneur using your business to lift others up; we want to hear your story,” says Nhlapo. “For 70 years, Iwisa No.1 has filled plates, homes and hearts. The Community Champions competition is how we fill futures. This is what 70 years of filling good together has always meant: not just filling stomachs, but filling lives with dignity, possibility and the quiet, powerful knowledge that we are not in this alone.”