Twelve South African marketers and creatives selected as shortlist jury members for Cannes Lions 2026

Twelve of South Africa’s most respected experts in the creative marketing industries have been selected to sit on various Shortlist Jury panels to judge a number of categories for this year’s Cannes Lions awards.

‘As the official Cannes Lions Festival representative for the South African market, it is wonderful to have a broad range of industry representatives selected once again as members of the Shortlist Jury panels. We see it as a global acknowledgement of the very high standard of local talent that exists here,’ says Lynne Wylie, chief marketing officer of Ster-Kinekor.

‘The Lions Awards sit at the heart of the festival and the jurors play a crucial role in shaping the work awarded at Cannes Lions. As such, it is important to uphold the standard of judging to preserve the value of the awards.’

The Shortlist Jury members have an important task ahead of them as they filter through the thousands of entries in their category to identify the best work. They perform the initial, large-scale review to select the shortlists, often working remotely or in the first phase of the festival. The Awarding Jury then reviews that filtered selection to determine the winners (Bronze, Silver, Gold) and the final Grand Prix.

Through its composition, the Shortlist Jury ensures fairness through a diverse mix of gender, location and specialisation. It is essential that the work is judged by a stellar cast of world-class candidates comprising the very best creative talent.

‘We wish this year’s list of Shortlist Jury well as they go about their judging tasks and trust they will come back to their respective agencies and corporates with many invaluable global learnings to share with their colleagues,’ comments Wylie.

The Cannes Lions Shortlist Jury Members from South Africa are:

CATEGORY	JURY MEMBER
Design	Bronwen Rautenbach, Co-founder, Owner, & Chief Creative Officer Sunshinegun
Direct	Dudu Mokholo, CMO Pernod Ricard
Entertainment	Justin Gomes, Founder & Chief Creative Officer Bananas
Film	Graeme Jenner, Executive Creative Director LePub
Film	Thabang Manyelo, Executive Creative Director The Odd Number
Film Craft	Katlego Baaitse, Film Director Spitfire Films
Outdoor	Galaletsang Kgoathe, Creative Partner Ogilvy
Outdoor	Thembelathu (Themba) Msibi, Head of Creative & Co-Founder Black Swan Assets
PR	Keri-Ann Stanton, Chief Strategist & Founder KAMuses Consultancy
PR	Nozipho Tshabalala, CEO Conversation Strategists Agency
Social & Creator	Bridget Harpur, Head of Marketing Volkswagen Group Africa
Social & Creator	Sibu Mabena, CEO & Chief Creative Officer Duma Collective (Pty) Ltd

The 2026 edition of the annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity takes place in Cannes, France, from 22 – 26 June.