Survivor South Africa: Panama

Survivor South Africa: Panama is the first season of Survivor South Africa. The premiere aired on September 3, 2006.
After 27 days, estate agent Vanessa Marawa defeated entrepreneur Jacinda Louw in a 3-2 jury vote, winning the title of Ultimate Survivor and the R1 million prize.
==Production==
A South African version of global reality phenomenon Survivor was announced by pay channel M-Net on Tuesday 11 April 2006, and was filmed on the Pearl Islands in the Gulf of Panama from June 6, 2006 until early July.
In Survivor South Africa: Panama 14 contestants were chosen from a shortlist of 700, with six additional contestants selected as replacements in case any of the original 14 were unable to take part through injury or other reasons. Entries opened for the show on April 11 and closed on May 15.
More than 18,000 South Africans applied to be on the show. Pierre van Niekerk (49), a resident of Rietfontein in Pretoria, entered 1,000 times. Nico Panagio, who eventually joined the series as its host in , auditioned to be a castaway, but was not chosen as casting was not accepting public figures at the time.https://www.news24.com/life/arts-and-entertainment/tv/survivor-sa-nico-panagio-was-almost-a-contestant-before-he-became-the-host-of-the-show-20210603-2
On July 16, M-Net announced the host of the show - Capetonian Mark Bayly, who auditioned to be a contestant and was hired as presenter instead.
Survivor South Africa: Panama was filmed in the Pearl Islands at the same time as five other Survivor productions: The Netherlands, Denmark, Greece, Sweden and Turkey.http://tvsa.co.za.winhost.wa.co.za/shows/viewshowseasons.aspx?showId=2557&season=1
==Twists/Changes==
*Tribe Composition: The fourteen castaways were divided into two tribes of seven.
*Unexpected Start: The contestant were led to believe that they were on their way to attend a media briefing, when the pilot of the plane they were in faked an emergency landing near a Panamanian village. The host then arrived, announcing that the game had started. The tribes were divided and informed that they could only take the belongings that could fit in one backpack for each tribe.
*Mock Vote 
**Penalty Vote: After Jude quit at Tribal Council on Day 8, the host announced to the remaining Aguila tribe members they would still have to vote. After Mark read the votes, he announced that the person who had received the majority of the votes would already have a vote cast against them at their next Tribal Council.
**Tribe Switch: On Day 12, Rana unknowingly voted for one member of their tribe to join the Aguila tribe, replacing a member who had been evacuated.
*Merge: The tribes merged on Day 17 with seven contestants remaining.
*Dead Man's Island: Starting at the merge, the castaways voted out at Tribal Council would be exiled to an island called Dead Man's Island, where they would wait to compete for two spots to re-enter the game when there were three contestants left in the main game.
*Semi-Finals: At the second final four, the castaways would compete in a challenge where the first person out would be eliminated from the game, the last person standing would be the first finalist, and the other two people would compete in another challenge to define the second finalist.
*Final Tribal Council Format: Two finalists faced a jury of five. The jurors individually addressed the finalists.
==Castaways==
Contestant 	Contestant 	Tribe Affiliation	Tribe Affiliation	Tribe Affiliation 	Finish 	Dead Man'sIsland Status 	VotesAgainst
Contestant 	Contestant 	Original Tribe 	Switched Tribe 	Merged Tribe 	Finish 	Dead Man'sIsland Status 	VotesAgainst
 	Don Soper54, Hurlingham Manor, GPBusinessman 	 	 	 	1st Voted OutDay 3 	 	4
 	Sam Allerton30, Hogsback, ECSculptor 	 	 	 	2nd Voted OutDay 6 	 	5
 	Jude Wilken39, Kempton Park, GPHostage Negotiator	 	 	 	QuitDay 8 	 	0
 	Ncumisa Ngcaweni30, Kenilworth, WCSkills Trainer 	 	 	 	3rd Voted OutDay 10 	 	4
 	Sanele Gumede27, Sandton, GPBrand Manager 	 	 	 	EvacuatedDay 12 	 	0
 	Danielle Vukic35, Green Point, WCFashion Producer	 	 	 	4th Voted OutDay 14 	 	8
 	Nico Hinis43, Parkhurst, GPRestaurateur 	 	 	 	5th Voted OutDay 16 	 	5
 	Lezel Crook28, Llandudno, WCAttorney 	 	 	rowspan="9" 	9th Voted OutDay 24 	1st Eliminated1st Jury MemberDay 25	9
 	Brigitte Willers24, Auckland Park, GPSports Model	 	 	6th Voted OutDay 19 	2nd Eliminated2nd Jury MemberDay 25	5 	
 	Gareth Tjasink27, Sunninghill, GPMedical Doctor 	 	 	10th Voted Out3rd Jury MemberDay 27	rowspan="2" 	3 	
 	Zayn Nabbi24, Durban, KZNJournalist 	 	 	Eliminated4th Jury MemberDay 28 	2 	 	
rowspan="2" 	Mzi Tyhokolo31, Honeydew Ridge, GPEnergy Advisor 	rowspan="2" 	rowspan="2" 	7th Voted OutDay 21 	ReturneeDay 25 	5 	
Eliminated5th Jury MemberDay 29	Mzi Tyhokolo31, Honeydew Ridge, GPEnergy Advisor 	rowspan="2" 	 	 	 	5 	
 	Jacinda Louw25, Bedfordview, GPEntrepreneur 	 	 	Runner-Up 	1 	 	
rowspan="2" 	Vanessa Marawa27, La Lucia, KZNEstate Agent 	rowspan="2" 	rowspan="2" 	8th Voted OutDay 22 	ReturneeDay 25 	6 	
Ultimate Survivor 	Vanessa Marawa27, La Lucia, KZNEstate Agent 	 	 	 	 	6 	
==Season Summary==
The debut season of Survivor South Africa started with 14 castaways divided into two tribes: Aguila and Rana. The Aguila tribe dominated in Reward Challenges, but suffered from poor interpersonal dynamics and eventually spiraled into an extensive losing streak. Meanwhile, Rana struggled in most of the tribal challenges, but the group of self-proclaimed "diplomats" was able to keep their morale high. Their unity helped them to win the challenges where they counted, helping them to enter the merge with a 4-3 numerical advantage over their rival Aguilas.
Upon the advent of the merge, the Ranas used their numbers' advantage to dispose of the three Aguilas. Despite the apparently seamless pagonging, cracks began to form within the alliance, as Gareth and Zayn disagreed with Jacinda Louw and Lezel's amoral approach to the game. Unbeknownst to the Ranas, the Aguilas who had been voted out were sent to Dead Man's Island for a chance to re-enter the game. They were joined by Lezel, who was voted out by her alliance at the final five. Ultimately, Mzi and Vanessa won the return challenge and successfully broke apart the Rana coalition, causing Gareth's blindside.
The Final Two was decided by a semi-final challenge, the first round of which was won by Vanessa and the second round by Jacinda. The two women pled their case at Final Tribal Council, with Jacinda emphasizing her strategic game and Vanessa asserting that she had to scrape her way through to the finals. The votes were split between tribal lines, with Zayn emerging as the swing vote; his inclination to support the more moral player led him to cast his jury vote for Vanessa, who defeated Jacinda in a 3-2 final vote.
==Voting History==
==Trivia==
*With only 14 contestants, Panama features the fewest number of castaways in Survivor South Africa.
==References==
ZA01
Category:Survivor South Africa
Category:Survivor South Africa: Panama
Category:Survivor South Africa Seasons