The finalists of Mr. Gay South Africa™ 2011 have been formally announced and the SMS competition, which counts for 25% of the final score, has opened simultaneously. The LGBTI community has a large say in who the winner will be as this vote could be the king maker.

Each SMS costs R2 and no more than 100 votes per day per phone number is allowed – all votes from the phone number which transgresses this rule will be forfeited for the day to prevent robot voting. SMS the abbreviation GSA plus the number code of each finalist to 34008 e.g. GSA 16 if that is your finalist of choice. Free minutes do not apply.

The fourteen finalists with their voting code numbers and provinces are:

The profiles of the finalists can be viewed on the website www.mrgsa.co.za under the header “Finalists 2011”.

The finalists will appear on stage at Joburg Pride on 1 October and will be on the gay and gay-friendly cruise from 14 – 18 November on the MSC Sinfonia to Mozambique. Bookings for the cruise maybe made to leon@alternativetravel.co.za – there are special rates available until the end of September. A fundraising auction will be held at Barn 52 restaurant in Irene, Pretoria on 30 September when all the finalists will model clothing by Bone Wear and Wonderguy.

Coenie Kukkuk, Operations Director of Mr. Gay South Africa (Pty) Ltd., said “We are grateful that overall, they are a diverse group in terms of personalities, appearance, background and region including the first ever finalists from Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape. We also have our first finalist ever from Indian descent and another finalist who is out and proud about his HIV positive status – which are welcome additions to the line-up. Our participation from non-white entrants is still below par, but there was a growth from only 11% of non-white entries in 2009 to just over 30% in 2011. That is an increase of about 200% and if this trend continues, the demographics will look much different in a few years time. Our efforts to encourage more black participants to enter will continue”.

Prizes for the winner include flight tickets and accommodation by Club Travel Honeydew for seven days in Thailand and a further seven day stay at The BougainVilla Guest House in Phuket, Thailand as well as a year’s supply of Bone Wear, MichaelGamePlan cosmetics, jeans from True Religion, insurance from brokers Gaysure, a photo portfolio from official photographer Kyle Correia De Araujo, formal dress for functions will be provided by GF Men’s Wear and many more totalling more than R300 000. Each finalist will also receive Bone Wear for the cruise to Mozambique from 14 – 18 November, during which most of the judging will take place, as well as accommodation at the Hilton Hotel Durban, Nomndeni Lodges, Kat-Man-Doo Male Retreat in Dullstroom and at Mapungubwe Hotel in Johannesburg for the Pride and Grand Finale weekends. All printing for the competition is supplied by PrintAfford.

Ticket sales for the Grand Finale on Sat. 26 November 2011 at The Lyric, Gold Reef City, have already opened and can be booked through Computicket or bought at any Shoprite or Checkers. Prices vary from R130 for stall tickets and from R230 for VIP tickets, which are situated on the balcony.

Click Here to view photos of the contestants

Press Release

Coenie Kukkuk, Director, Mr. Gay South Africa (Pty) Ltd