Despite smashing through every challenge and breaking the record for the most wins for individual immunity on Survivor South Africa: Immunity Island, Chappies fell two places short of walking away with the honours he paced through tough scapes in hopes to win.

The jury decided Nicole played the best game out of everyone. Photo credit: MNet

The ‘Challenge Beast’ played hard throughout the season, even pulling a miracle to win immunity when it mattered the most; landing him in the coveted top three spot from which the sole survivor must emerge. But in the end, despite literally jumping through hoops and other gruelling tests to emerge many times an unstoppable beast, we are learning once more that life is trickier. Being a clear contender for the top prize leaves the underdog with plenty of room to move and execute a slick victory at the finish line. See?

Instead nine of the ten members of the jury decided Nicole’s overall game and final plea deserved this glory. Anela bowed out in the top 2, coming as close as you can get. But with a R1 million cash prize at stake on the two-hour finale special, ‘almost’ didn’t count. In the end, it was unanimously decided that Nicole had played a better

This season’s members of the jury. Photo: MNet

With Chappies already holding a Survivor South Africa record after winning seven consecutive Individual Challenges, the odds were against Nicole and Anela in the surprise final Individual Immunity Challenge.

The gruelling endurance challenge lasted over two hours, with Anela falling first before Chappies blacked out and toppled from the precarious balance stakes to hand Nicole Individual Immunity and a seat in the Final Two. Effectively, the choice of who she would sit next to rested with her, as she would cast the only vote at the penultimate Tribal Council.

At camp, Chappies did his best to charm her with’ inside info’ gleaned from his breakfast with Jury member Anesu, while Anela took a soft-touch approach and told her he’d be at peace with whatever decision she arrived at. At Tribal Council, both Chappies and Anela did their best to tug at her heartstrings with emotional appeals, but her mind was made up over who she thought she had a better chance of defeating before the Jury – and she duly wrote Chappies’ name down, making him the ninth and final member of the Jury.

At the final Tribal Council, Anela opened the conversation by explaining how he’d used his sports coaching experience to set up his philosophy for the game, focussing on being the best at ‘getting the little things right’ and playing on pillars of ‘freedom of expression’, ‘simplicity’ and ‘flexibility’. Nicole explained how she’d never erred from her intention of playing the game with integrity, reliability, honesty and trust and how her decision to fight Chappies for Individual Immunity earlier in the game, while everyone else opted for a Spaghetti Bolognese feast, showed her determination.

Each of the Jury members took a different tack when speaking to the Final Two: Renier asked them both to explain why they deserved the title more than the other; Anesu questioned Anela about whether he’d genuinely stayed true to his intentions and Amy asked both whether they’d intentionally pretended to be anything other than their true selves.

Shaun made the simple statement that his vote lay with Anela; Kiran asked them to detail moves they’d considered, but never made; Marisha revealed that she was listening intently because she couldn’t decide which to vote for; Tyson said his decision was made and couldn’t be changed and Chappies questioned Anela about how he’d embraced his vulnerability during the game.

In the end, Nicole’s blend of sheer tenacity and integrity was enough to sway the Jury in her favour, trouncing Anela in the final vote.

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eTV’s Scandal! signalled it’s intent to move in a different direction with a new storyline by getting rid of some of the marquee actors and actresses on the show. The drama series shifted its focus from the many filler subplots to introduce a new family in town.

In retrospect, it seemed like the writers had hit a dead end after exhausting different plot lines for some of our faves. Case in point was the handling of Hungani Ndlovu’s exit from the soapie. His first disappearance suggested that we hadn’t seen the last of the actor until Romeo re-emerged out of nowhere…only to die thereafter.

Some of Ndlovu’s highlights include outsmarting the most cunning of adversaries in Kgomotso Christopher’s character, Yvonne ‘YV’ Langa and Neo Mokgethi.

The writers quickly filled the gap by shining the spotlight on Lusanda Mbane’s character, Boniswa Langa. This move gave the impression that she would be the new lead, as new cast members Mamba and Gorbachev were introduced to add more range and drama around her.

Lusanda’s reign was short lived, as she would soon make way for the Kubeka family after being shot dead by Grace Medupe. Boniswa’s exit would not be the last in the mass exodus that was to follow.

It seems like we’ve seen the last of Mlungisi Ngema, played by Patrick Mofokeng on Scandal! The same fate that befell Romeo happened to him as well. Death by river!!!

His onscreen wife, Gcina Nkosi who reprises the role of Zinzile Ngema may also be moving on as a result. It is still yet to be confirmed, however, all evidence points towards that direction.

Brighton Ngoma also bid farewell to his character Quinton Nyathi after 10 years on the show. His exit gave viewers a glimpse of what to expect from the Kubeka family. While a freak accident may have taken his life, it showed just how resourceful the family was at evading the law and getting away with murder.

It was not too long ago when we were celebrating his marriage to Thembeka Shezi (Masasa Mbangeni). Masasa returned to the soapie only to be brutally murdered by arch-nemesis, Mthunzi Mayisa a few months later.

Who’s Leaving eTV Scandal! Next?

It is rumoured that Lerumo Chabedi (Tshepo Masese) and his father Neo Mokgethi (Jerry Mofokeng wa Makhetha) will be killed off the show in the next few weeks. No doubt that the new family will have something to do with it. Lerumo has been investigating the death of Quinton that has led him to the trail of the Kubekas. It remains to be seen what happens next.

The remaining Langas may also be ushered out of the story based on current events. Xolile Langa, who is brought to life by Sivenathi Mabuya will exit the show and will be followed by Bathabile Mashigo (Grace Medupe). Seems like her final act was to kill Boniswa. After selling her shares at the Newtonian Hotel, she will disappear from the show.

Catch all of this and more on the latest episodes of Scandal! which air on e.tv from Mondays to Fridays at 19h30.

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There’s a litany of dreadful reality shows all paddling the same stale narrative of dysfunction within black families. Abasemzini, which premiered on Friday, 3 September at 20:30 on 1Magic, is not one of them. The 13-part series, now two episodes in, seeks to explore complicated relationships between mothers and their mothers-in-law within the landscape of the traditional African marriage institution.

We tuned in on the promise that the show marked an exit from the tired trope of mothers in law and the women married to their sons are bound to be on each other’s necks.  “The aim of (of the show) is to restore happy families and equip both parties with conflict management skills they can use in their everyday lives” Nomsa Philiso, the Director of Local Entertainment Channels at M-Net said in a press statement ahead of the show’s premiere.

This intention could be why we are seeing, instead of chairs flying and witchcraft and social grant family scandals, families being put in an environment where they can actually focus on the underlying emotions shaping their behavioural patterns. All these realities matter, of-course, including some of the messy drama that we see splashed across all the shows. That said, it’s all we see about dynamics in black households now.

Where the producers of Abasemzini could have made the decision to create a toxic environment in which these women are merely attacking each other in unfortunate TV drama spectacles, the focus has been solely on healing.

The show’s presenters Lehasa Moloi and Puleng March have maintained a calm vibe, encouraging the mothers and their daughters-in-law units to understand each other. It’s refreshing also to see the conversation about mental health being elevated in a way that is natural in this type of environment. Clinical psychologist and TV host Nozibusiso Nyawose and psychologist Vuyo Themba assist each pair through a range of bootcamp exercises. Some of these are fun, but others are more serious treatments to deep emotions held by those taking part.

We will be watching. Abasemzini airs Fridays at 20:30 on 1Magic.

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