Rugrats rule in ‘Survivor SA’

With the elimination of Ashley, and the recent booting of Marsha Wessels, it's clear that in Survivor SA: Champions, physical strength will not necessarily keep you safe.


At this point of the series being part of a strong alliance seems to be best way for the castaways to guarantee themselves an extra day on the island, and to move a step closer to the R1 million prize. Among the many alliances that are formed and then broken off later, the counter-alliance in Corne Krige’s tribe – they call themselves “The Rugrats” – seems to be very influential when it comes to who stays and who goes.

After getting rid of Ashleigh last week, The Rugrats followed through on their strategy by deciding to vote off either Zavion or Marsha.

Marsha’s fate was sealed when Rugrats member Gena heard that Marsha had told the tribe’s oldest contestant, David, that she and Altaaf were talking about getting rid of the “older people” in the tribe.

A livid Gena advised the Rugrats to get rid of negative people next.

A 44-year-old-army sports officer, Marsha was the first contestant picked by former Springbok captain Corne Krige to be part of his tribe. Having completed 10 Iron Man Challenges and having earned Protea colours in duathlon and triathlon, her strong character and physical strength made her one of Krige’s favourites.

He tried to convince his team to vote off weaker tribe members again this week, but again, his advice fell on deaf ears.

This week, Corne, Marsha and decathlon athlete Zavion, with whom Marsha had an early alliance, learned a hard lesson about the competition – that knowing the strategy of others is as important as knowing your own.

On leaving the island, Marsha said she held no grudges but suggested that the Rugrats might regret voting off physically strong people so early in the game.

But for now, the mother-of-three says she is going to treasure the moments she has with her family and enjoy a hot cup of coffee.