There seems to be no stopping Bonang Matheba who has steam rolled her way through 2019, one achievement at a time.  The 32-year-old media personality has just been announced as a recipient of an E! Peoples Choice Award. 

Matheba is the winner of the inaugural African Influencer Of The Year category, beating out stiff competition from across the continent. Queen B, as she is fondly known to her fans won the award following a weeks-long campaign where the ward was ultimately decided by just the fans. 

Other celebrities that were nominated from the continent included local favourites musician Cassper Nyovest and TV presenter Minnie Dlamini. Further afield in the diaspora were nominees Diamond Platnumz, Davido, WizKid, Tiwa Savage and Yemi Alade.

The E! People's Choice Awards, billed as the "pop culture event of the year", is now in its 45th year. Previous winners in other categories include the who's who of show business, including Kevin Hart, Serena Williams, Ellen DeGeneres and Justin Bieber.

On hearing the news, Matheba said she cried. "I cried, I really did cry. After crying I called my mom and spoke to her on the phone. My mom is somebody that is very spiritual and believes in prayer, so I had a prayer session with her."

Matheba described the win as "an out of body experience". "It's one of those things that will probably not hit me until I get to [the awards] and I have seen everything around me....It's one of those things you don't dream of. It's one of those things that you can't even, you know, put in your plans. It's an honour. It's huge."

Despite a string of other awards this past year including a global social media award, Matheba said this one was "an honour".

"I think the timing is the most important thing for me, for E! Entertainment to Recognise the African continent right now...to see the African continent for what it is right now, and I think for myself to be at the peak of my career."

Matheba, famed for her dedicated fans known as the B Force, said she was grateful for the passion they have for her.

"Are you guys absolutely kidding me? Did you actually do this? For real? Am I even worthy? Words cannot even describe this. They are intentional with their love, so I need to be intentional with my love and the love I put in my craft."

The E! People’s Choice Awards will be broadcast live from Barker Hangar in Santa Monica on Monday 11th November 2019 from 04:00am CAT onE! (DStv channel 124)