Survivor South Africa: Return of the Outcasts is the ninth season of the South African reality competition show, Survivor South Africa. Announced on 25 November 2021, the season was scheduled for broadcast on M-Net in July 2022.

The season is the first all-returning player season of Survivor South Africa, with 20 contestants from between Maldives and Immunity Island onwards returning. Return of the Outcasts is the seventh season hosted by Nico Panagio and was produced by Afrokaans Film & Television. For this season, the grand prize was doubled to R2 million. The season premiered on 18 July 2022 airing four episodes a week, and the cast was announced on 5 June 2022; with the tribe division based upon if castaways had made it to the merge portion of their previous season or not. On the season finale, broadcast on 25 August 2022, Season 8 Pre-Merger, Dino Paulo, was crowned Sole Survivor in a 7-2 vote against Season 5 Post-Merger, Shane Hattingh.

Contestants

The cast is composed of 20 returning players from past seasons of Survivor South Africa. The blue 'Masu' tribe consists of 10 players who made the merge on their previous season, while the red 'Yontau' tribe were 10 players who only played in the pre-merge portion of their respective seasons. The tribe names – Yontau and Masu – come from the Vulcan words for fire and water respectively. The tribes were randomly shuffled on Day 12, with 15 players left in the game. With an advantage hidden in the game, Marian used Diplomatic Immunity to swap from Yontau to Masu on Day 18. After Tribal Council on Day 19, the final 11 players merged to form the yellow 'Salan' (Vulcan for wind) tribe.

+List of Survivor South Africa: Return of the Outcasts contestantsContestantOriginal tribeSwitched TribePost-Diplomatic Merged Tribe Finish33, Centurion, GautengImmunity Island1st voted outDay 331, Lephalale, LimpopoPhilippines2nd voted outDay 553, Paternoster, Western CapeIsland of Secrets3rd voted outDay 728, Cape Town, Western CapePhilippines4th voted outDay 929, Durban, Kwa-Zulu NatalPhilippines5th voted outDay 1133, Cape Town, Western CapeChampions6th voted outDay 1431, Cape Town, Western CapeImmunity Island7th voted outDay 1537, Uitenhage, Eastern CapeImmunity Island8th voted outDay 1731, Johannesburg, GautengPhilippines9th voted outDay 1941, Cape Town, Western CapePhilippinesrowspan=11 10th voted out1st jury memberDay 2133, Dwarskersbos, Western CapeIsland of Secrets11th voted out2nd jury memberDay 2330, Midrand, GautengIsland of Secrets12th voted out3rd jury memberDay 2533, Centurion, GautengIsland of Secrets13th voted out4th jury memberDay 2742, Johannesburg, GautengMaldives14th voted out5th jury memberDay 3032, Pretoria, GautengIsland of Secrets15th voted out6th jury memberDay 3352, Benoni, GautengChampions16th voted out7th jury memberDay 3540, Johannesburg, GautengChampions17th voted out8th jury memberDay 3733, Cape Town, Western CapeChampions18th voted out9th jury memberDay 3850, Bryanston, GautengChampionsRunner-UpDay 3931, Johannesburg, GautengImmunity IslandSole SurvivorDay 39

Notes

Season summary

The game began with 20 players divided into two tribes competing for a 2-million Rand prize. The players who were eliminated post-merge in their prior season made up the blue Masu tribe, while the players who were eliminated pre-merge in their prior season made up the red Yontau tribe. Though Masu lost the first two immunity challenges, a win streak gave them the numbers going into a tribe swap. The most prolific alliances on each starting tribe were the Breakfast Club on Masu made up primarily of past in-game relationships (which later birthed a "Full Package" trio among Steffi, Marian, and Meryl that gained power due to the advantages the women obtained) and the No-B.S. Alliance on Yontau between Dino, Felix, and Phil. The Philippines players found themselves outnumbered on both tribes, resulting in early eliminations for players like PK, Tevin, and Palesa, the latter of which was the result of a surprise double Tribal Council that took place right before the merge.

The new Salan tribe saw the Breakfast Club and the No-B.S. Alliance vying for power. The latter alliance ultimately won out by convincing the others to turn on each other and blindside Dante, the perceived strategic leader of the Breakfast Club. This gave Dino, Felix, and Phil the ammunition they needed to dismantle the Breakfast Club (voting out free agents Tejan and Killarney in the process as well), but the three of them eventually also turned on each other. Phil went on an unprecedented immunity run to keep himself safe, but his luck ran out at the Final 4.

Dino, Shane, and Marian made up the final three. Dino won the final immunity challenge with the castaways' loved ones present, and his fiancee urged him to do what he needs to do (that being, vote out Marian as the bigger threat between her and Shane). At the Final Tribal Council, Dino's strategic dominance won out over Shane's perseverance despite being an underdog, and the jury voted him the sole survivor in a 7–2 decision.

+Challenge winners and eliminations by episodeEpisodeChallenge winner(s)The OutpostEliminatedFinishNo.TitleAir dateRewardImmunity12 "Twice the Game""Survivor 101" July 18, 2022July 19, 2022rowspan="2" rowspan="2" rowspan="2" 1st voted outDay 33"The Ghost of Your Past Game"July 20, 2022colspan=2 rowspan=5 2nd voted outDay 54"Walking on Eggshells"July 21, 2022colspan=2 3rd voted outDay 75"The Rope Dealer"July 25, 2022colspan=2 4th voted outDay 96"Sharp Tools"July 26, 2022rowspan="2" rowspan="2" 5th voted outDay 11 78 "Expect the UnexpectedThis is Gonna Be a Life Long Torture" July 27, 2022July 28, 2022rowspan=2 colspan=2 rowspan="2" 6th voted outDay 149"A Flat Out No"August 1, 2022colspan=2 rowspan=2 7th voted outDay 1510"The Don"August 2, 2022colspan=2 8th voted outDay 171112"Spanners in the WorksGuess What, You Are a Number!"August 3, 2022August 4, 2022rowspan=2 rowspan="2" 9th voted outDay 1913"Work for It"August 8, 2022MergeFeastChallenge 10th voted out1st jury memberDay 2114"A Steady Ship"August 9, 2022colspan=2 11th voted out2nd jury memberDay 2315"High Risk, High Reward"August 10, 2022colspan=2 12th voted out3rd jury memberDay 2516"Dipping into the Dark Side"August 11, 2022Nonerowspan=2 13th voted out4th jury memberDay 271718"Balance of Power""Goat Mode"August 15, 2022August 16, 202214th voted out5th jury memberDay 301920"A Whole Lot of B.S.""Our Little Alliance"August 17, 2022August 18, 202215th voted out6th jury memberDay 3321"A Game of Fluidity"August 22, 2022colspan=2 rowspan=2 16th voted out7th jury memberDay 3522"No Tools In My Toolkit"August 23, 202217th voted out8th jury memberDay 3723"Peace. Calm. Confidence."August 24, 2022None18th voted out9th jury memberDay 3824"Head vs. Heart"and Return of the Outcast ReunionAugust 25, 2022Jury voteRunner-upDay 39Day 39 In the case of multiple tribes or castaways who win reward or immunity, they are listed in order of finish, or alphabetically where it was a team effort; where one castaway won and invited others, the invitees are in brackets. Notes

Episodes

Voting history

Week 1Week 2Week 3Week 4Week 5Week 6Episode #23456891012131415161820212223Day #35791114151719212325273033353738VotesVoterVotealign="left" align="left" align="left" Palesaalign="left" align="left" Palesaalign="left" Palesaalign="left" Palesaalign="left" align="left" Palesaalign="left" align="left" Merylcolspan=2 align="left" colspan="3" align="left" colspan="3" align="left" colspan="3" align="left" colspan="4" align="left" colspan="4" align="left" colspan="4" align="left" colspan="4" align="left" colspan="4" align="left" Jury VoteEpisode #24Day #39FinalistVotescolspan="2" JurorVotealign="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left"

References

External links