Pretoria, South Africa: Johannesburg-based visual artist Sphumelele Zondi (26) has been announced as the overall winner of the 2026 Sasol New Signatures Visual Arts Competition for her powerful mixed-media work, The laundry of a nation (2026).

Zondi receives a cash prize of R100 000 and the opportunity to present a solo exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum in 2027.

Born in KwaZulu-Natal and now based in Johannesburg, Zondi works primarily in sculpture and mixed media. Her practice explores memory, inherited narratives and the relationship between past and present, drawing on personal and collective histories, resilience, and the emotional traces embedded in everyday materials. She holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art from the Durban University of Technology.

In The laundry of a nation, Zondi reflects on the emotional and social inheritance carried by young people within contemporary South Africa. Drawing from the visual language of clothing, labour, domesticity and repetition, the installation considers how national histories continue to live within ordinary bodies and everyday materials.

In many South African homes, clothing exists beyond appearance. It carries labour, survival, class, memory, religion and economic struggle. Garments move between siblings, neighbours, workers, schools, churches and communities, slowly absorbing the emotional conditions of the environments through which they pass. Within this context, clothing becomes both witness and archive.

“This was my first time entering the competition,” said Zondi. “What prompted me to enter Sasol New Signatures was the incredible opportunities and exposure it provides to young emerging artists. I first became aware of the competition during my university years, and this year I felt ready to take that step and put my work forward. The competition holds such great significance in the South African art space and an important platform where my work could be seen and engaged with.”

This year saw a total of 938 works submitted at eight collection points across South Africa. Of these, 123 works were selected to advance to the final round of judging and to appear in the 2026 exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum.

Sasol has proudly sponsored the competition for the past 36 years, championing emerging South African artists and creating opportunities for them to develop their talent, gain recognition and build their careers.

“Sasol New Signatures has provided a vital platform for emerging artists to share their perspectives, challenge convention and take the next step in their creative journeys. We continue to support the arts because we believe that creativity plays an important role in shaping society, encouraging new ways of thinking, inspiring dialogue and helping us better understand the world and one another. We are proud to sponsor a competition that celebrates the depth, diversity and talent of South Africa’s emerging visual arts community, while creating meaningful opportunities for the next generation of artists to develop their careers and make their voices heard,” commented Nozipho Mlambo, Sasol Senior Manager: Group Brand and Sponsorships.

The 2026 runner-up is Sive Ntombana (23), a painter and mural artist based in Makhanda who is currently doing a Master of Fine Arts at Rhodes University. Ntombana receives a prize of R25 000.

His work titled Umlandeli, forms part of a practice-based research project exploring the concept of trauma in the Xhosa rural Eastern Cape. The body of work examines how trauma is interpreted, engaged with and experienced in different states through a reflexive perspective. “I work with ingcawe and collected ochres to reference the rural,” said Ntombana. “Through collecting and working with ochres, I invoke ukusula, a mural painting practice in the Mpondo rural area, to think about healing in practice and as a practice.”

The five Merit Award winners receive R10 000 each, and they are (in alphabetical order):

Charlie de Bruto (21) - Pretoria
Ball buster, 2026
Mixed media

Inga Lokwe (28) - Pretoria
Qula kwedini, 2025
Glass, metal, wood

Wisani Manyisi (41) - Johannesburg
Dance of memory, 2026
Mixed media on paper

Thomas Masingi (35) - Polokwane
The desire to become one series, 2025
Digital photography on true ivory

Charné Mungur (49) - Gqeberha
Echoes of silence, 2025
Steel

Reflecting on Zondi’s winning work and the breadth of the 2026 exhibition, Sasol New Signatures Chairperson, Pfunzo Sidogi said  “The laundry of a nation (2026) is an exemplar of how the emerging artists represented in this year’s final exhibition are advancing the tradition of art that tackles the big and difficult questions of life in profound creative registers. I sincerely hope that every person who experiences this year’s exhibition of the 123 artworks that made it into the final round, and the exceptional debut solo exhibition, Die Vallei van Adem, by last year’s overall winner Juandré van Eck, will embrace the playful, healing, restorative, questioning, and sometimes adversarial temperament embedded in the various narratives on show.”

Sidogi also extended gratitude to those involved in the adjudication process: “I extend my sincerest gratitude to all judges from the regional and final rounds. I have the highest reverence for the individual contributions they are making to the visual arts sector in our country. Their professionalism and generosity during the adjudication process have been infectious to me.”

Sasol wishes to take this opportunity to extend their deepest appreciation to the Association of Arts Pretoria, which founded the competition more than 60 years ago, for its unwavering dedication and hard work. Appreciation also goes to partners the City of Tshwane, the Pretoria Art Museum and Stuttaford Van Lines for their steadfast and loyal support.

“Sasol New Signatures Visual Arts Competition is so important and necessary. It provides a platform for new voices, new perspectives and new ways of seeing the world. The artists represented here are not merely producing objects. They are participating in one of humanity's oldest and most essential conversations - the search for meaning” concluded Pieter van Heerden,  Director of Association of Arts Pretoria.

The Sasol New Signatures exhibition, featuring the work of the 2026 winners and finalists, will take place at the Pretoria Art Museum, from 11 September to 8 November 2026. Alongside the exhibition is the solo exhibition of 2025 winner, Juandré van Eck - Die Vallei van Adem.  All finalists’ works are included in the competition catalogue, available online. The exhibition can also be viewed virtually.