Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron has been chosen as the newsmaker in her home country of South Africa in the year 2004, the National Press Club announced in Pretoria on Tuesday (Jan 18).

Theron, who received a Best Actress Oscar Award last year for her lead role in the Hollywood thriller Monster, won the club's Newsmaker of the Year title for 2004, beating the country's Olympics swimming relay team and the 2010 Soccer World Cup bid.

Press club chairman Ben Rootman said the media impact of Theron's award was tremendous.

"Apart from appearing on the front page of Time Magazine -- a rare achievement for a film star -- she was seen and quoted extensively on both electronic and print media internationally, and her media profile during her visit to South Africa, after receiving the award, was tremendous," Rootman said.

Rootman added that besides the Oscar, Theron was the first South African to win a Golden Globe Award and in the words of President Thabo Mbeki was "proof that South Africa as a nation canproduce the best in the world."

South Africans' triumphs in men's 4-by-100 meters freestyle relay in the Athens Olympic Games and the bid for the right to host the 2010 World Cup also generated extensive media coverage and strong national pride across the country.

The club planned to present the award to Theron at a ceremony in South Africa.

Previous recipients include former presidents Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk, HIV/AIDS activist Zackie Achmat and his Treatment Action Campaign, the South African Air Force, and the national rugby team.

Editor: Donald