The Team Focus group (including fire fighters from the Meyerton Fire Station and medical personnel from ER24, Gauteng Emergency Medical Services, Netcare 911 and Vaal Emergency Ambulance Services) was called to a bus accident in the early hours of a wintry morning. An intense, six-hour operation left seasoned rescuers saddened when 19 people died and 53 were injured. In an accident that nobody – crews, family members and all of South Africa – wishes to see repeated, rescuers used every bit of stamina, training and apparatus at their disposal to save lives and deal quickly with injuries.

Team Focus has won R10 000 in prize money from Centrum® that will be divided among the individuals in the team. In addition, the team’s base stations have won R35 000 from Centrum®, R15 000 from One Lady and a Tribe and R10 000 from Enkosi Agency plus proceeds from SMS votes. This means that the base stations have won a grand total of R61 009 in prize money. The remaining finalist teams each received R2 500 from Centrum® and each person received a six month supply of Centrum®.

In 2013, for the first time since the project’s inception, an independent panel was assembled to give their input into the selection of the winner. The panel was asked to watch the finalist episodes from the Centrum® Guardians 2013 TV show and then rate the eight finalists in order from most favourite to least favourite based on which finalist most inspired each panel member. These scores contributed 50% of each finalist’s voting tally.

The panel included:

- Katlego Maboe, presenter for Expresso Breakfast Show;
- Katy Katepodis, news editor of Talk Radio 702;
- Milly Summersgill, commissioning editor for SABC;
- Ursula Neizel, representative of Capital Media;
- Jared Orlin, deputy editor of TV Plus magazine;
- Munyaradzi Vomo, journalist for The Star Tonight;
- Peter Davey, editor of Fire Protection magazine;
- Danette Breitenbach, editor of Front Shop magazine;
- Bruce Dennill, lifestyle editor of The Citizen;
- Annalise Kempen, editor of Servamus; and
- Christo Valentyn, chairperson of the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists.

The Centrum® Guardian Project is a cause marketinginitiative implemented by Centrum®, the world’s number one multivitamin. “We are proud to be associated with the Emergency Services industry and share the work they do with the South African public through the Centrum® Guardians TV series. Every year we are overwhelmed by the courage, passion and determination that the finalists demonstrate every day when they put on their uniforms. Saving the lives of strangers is a thankless job, so this project enables us to show our gratitude to the remarkable men and women in the EMS,” said Centrum® brand manager, Natasha Macdonald.