‘Survivor SA’ finale: Will Chappies win or is there a twist on the horizon?

Then there were three. Survivor South Africa: Immunity Island will end this Thursday night in a two-hour special edition that will see the threesome of Anela, Nicole and Chappies battle before the jury to take home the title of Ultimate Survivor and a whack of cash.

This, after 15 weeks of nail-biting intrigue where power players like Nicole emerged from wallpaper to becoming an unexpected contender, while predictions were capsized as both Tyson and master strategist Kiran may have shown their hands too quickly and folded prematurely.

In the ramp-up to this week’s finale, Twitter is still reeling after Chappies gave Tyson a fighting chance last week, but it seems as if his mind was already made up for an exit.

Wardah was eliminated as a member of the jury by Chappies, who won that right during last week’s show after Anesu’s advice during lunch, and her promised lobby for a win amongst the jury.

This, while Nicole has simply been forging ahead being, well, Nicole. Physical, determined and playing what seems to be a straightforward game. Or has she been? Anela, the outlier, has survived on a strategy of luck, it seems. A tweet even referring to him as “everyone’s handbag”.

The obvious choice for victor must be Chappies who’s been a constant source of humour, smarts and gung-ho tactics the entire season. He’s a stand-out player and every success is due to him.

But, as we have seen in this season of Survivor, counting any chickens before they hatch may be a fatal mistake as it has been the series of blindsiding and hustling. If Chappies doesn’t take it, Nicole will. But that theorem is likely wrong, too.

While the level-headed marketer seems to have come into her own during the second half of the season with her mostly harmless demure, rudderless Anela may end up being the default go-to for spoiler members of the jury who don’t like Chappies, but just don’t buy into Nicole enough, either.

However, it seems that Twitter has already named Chappies the winner in a series of comments that indicate support for the castaway.

“I love Chappies. He’s a worthy winner,” said a tweep while another commented: “I hope he wins. He’s one of those all-time great characters. There only ever be one Chappie.”

There’s no doubt that he’s the front-running favourite on social media, another viewer lamenting that a final two, as a third wheel will be cast away early on Thursday night, with Nicole and Anela in contention, would simply spoil the show.

“I really don’t know what I will do if we end up with a Nicole/Anela final two,” said another.

It’s a toss-up and almost impossible to predict a winner. But it seems that everyone’s rooting for Chappies. Let’s see what happens on Thursday night at 7.30pm on M-Net. Don’t miss it.