Mining Technician PK became the unlucky 13th Castaway to be voted off Survivor South Africa: Philippines this week (26 July) – but he’ll be gleefully watching the results of the seeds of chaos he planted at Araw, from his vantage point on the Jury.
When he realized that his overtures to Werner via Katinka to keep him for one more Tribal Council and send Jeanne home first had come to naught, he set about wreaking havoc within the majority alliance by using the information Katinka had volunteered to him when they were the only ones on the Araw beach last week. There are two groups who believe they’re the ‘Top 3’ – Werner, Jeanne and Tom, and Werner Katinka and Tom – and PK attempted to laid several explosive charges between them by picking another fight with Tom, dropping Katinka in the deep end in front of Werner and publicly questioning Jeanne about her position.
PK had been part of a powerful alliance since the start of the game, when he found himself part of the ‘Original Five’ at Mindanao. He formed a particularly close bond with Tevin and worked with him all the way until episode 7, when he seemed to tire of taking orders and his appetite for a big move led to him ousting his biggest ally. The Tribe Shuffle in episode 4 kept his ‘Mindanao Strong’ bond tight, as PK remained a ‘blue’ alongside Tevin, Marthunis and Katinka, with Annalize the only newcomer. When Mindanao lost the Immunity Challenge in episode 8, Toni’s annoyance at their lack of fire – despite misgivings over the level of support they were receiving from the other ‘Mindanao Strong’ members in the other tribes – kept her and PK together to vote Josie out and leave them, a tribe of just 2. After Merge, he and Toni found themselves on the bottom of the former ‘blue blood’ bloc and despite his best efforts, he couldn’t displace former reds Tom and Annalize in the pecking order. When Toni went home in episode 12, the writing was on the wall for PK.
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It was Survivor Auction time this week, with the Castaways each given 500 Philippine Pesos to use in the bid for reward and the hopes of an advantage. With Jeanne spending 400 Pesos on a fried chicken meal and Tom scooping a stack of doughnuts with a blind bid, Werner catastrophically spent 200 Pesos on another blind item, which turned out to be a bowl of rice - a food the Castaways are all too familiar with. When PK outbid the other Castaways for a plate of biltong and a tall glass of beer, Nico offered him the chance to take it – or give it to the tribe to share and instead take possession of a small box. He declined, and Katinka outbid the others to claim the box, the contents of which would give her an advantage in the game.
That advantage was revealed the next day at the Individual Immunity Challenge, where the Castaways had to complete a block puzzle while working against time as a ball made its way down the slope of their Survivor-style pinball machines. If the ball passed through the pins and fell into the gutter before they could catch it, they’d have to stop and wait until it ran its course before throwing it back into the machine and being allowed to start building the puzzle again. Katinka’s advantage was that the time her ball would spend in the gutter would be halved, allowing her to hypothetically complete the puzzle faster. Ultimately, she couldn’t take advantage as Werner managed to split his focus best and claim the Immunity Necklace – and a 1-in-5 shot at the R1 Million prize.
Back at camp, a flurry of activity saw Annalize – with the extra vote she picked up on Exile Island last week, in her pocket – approach PK about partnering up and bringing on board one more Castaway to make a ‘big move’ that she couldn’t explain to him. PK also took Jeanne to task about her ‘adamant’ attitude towards her position in the Top 3 and Katinka starting to make moves to get Jeanne out of the picture.
Werner’s confidence in his position within the game came to the fore at Tribal Council when he declared that he didn’t like it when things were happening that he couldn’t control – and that humans were difficult to control. He said that he was prone to making bad decisions when he was anxious, and that the fact that he was wearing the Individual Immunity Necklace game him enough peace of mind for the moment to help him make sound decisions.
Despite all the chaos he created, PK seemed resigned to going home at Tribal Council – but not before he took one last parting shot by naming the two Top 3 variations and singling out Werner as the kingpin, but bemoaning the fact that nobody was willing to take a risk to break their stranglehold on the game. Once the tribe had voted, four votes were enough to send PK to Ponderosa. But as host Nico Panagio declared at the end of Tribal Council: “It seems to me that that may have been the last unanimous vote. From here on out, the only thing keep you safe at Tribal Council is that Immunity around your neck. So get out there and play hard”.
Tune in to Survivor South Africa: Philippines next week (Thursday 2 August, 19:00 on M-Net 101) to see if PK’s feather-ruffling had any effect, and if any of the Castaways are bold enough to make a move against the kingpin.
Also make a note to catch the fun-filled YouTube episode of Live After: Survivor South Africa on the DStv Online YouTube page, where the voted-off castaway will be in conversation with host Phil Mphela at 20:05 each week, directly after Survivor SA airs on M-Net 101. Want to ask a castaway a burning question? Tweet using #LiveAfter and @survivorsa and Phil could get it answered in the ‘Ask Me Anything’ segment of the show.
There are also some magnificent prizes up for grabs on the Survivor SA: Philippines website:
- A Huawei P20 Pro phone valued at R15 499.
- A 1-year supply of Bio-Strath products valued at R10 000.
- A delicious Steers Wacky Wednesdays voucher for one year, valued at R2800.
- A brand new DStv Explora 2.
All you have to do is to go to www.mnet.tv/survivorsa and answer the weekly quiz question. Every entry then also goes into the draw for the grand prize of a tropical island holiday experience for four, brought to you by Cathay Pacific and Club Med. And, if you’d like to earn additional points, explore the island and find the Huawei P20 Pro phone in our 360 VR experience and explore the Survivor SA islands, living area,s as well as each challenge site, as the weeks progress.
Survivor South Africa: Philippines is also streamed live on DStv Now and is available on DStv Catch Up within 24 hours of the live show. You can also catch the repeat on Sunday afternoons at 17:00 on M-Net Channel 101.
Survivor SA is powered by the Huawei P20 Pro and is produced by Afrokaans Film & Television.
Survivor SA: Philippines airs on M-Net (DStv channel 101) on Thursdays at 19:00. Join the conversation on the Survivor Facebook Page or on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #SurvivorSA.