Mmaba Molefe

Mmabatlokoa "Mmaba" Molefe is a contestant from Survivor South Africa: Island of Secrets.

Most notable for her strong bond with Geoffrey Cooke-Tonnesen, Mmaba was rarely targeted, and was able to make it to the merge unscathed. However, following Geoffrey's elimination, Mmaba was once again overlooked by larger threats, but was never able to truly gain a footing in the late game. At the final eight, she found a Hidden Immunity Idol in the voting urn, but did not play it. Worse, despite Jacques Burger having already played his own idol before the vote, she continued to go along with the original split vote plan and vote against Jacques; meanwhile, her supposed allies took the opportunity to blindside her instead, and she left the game with the idol in her pocket.

Profile[]

Retrieved from m-net.dstv.com

Surname: Molefe
Age: 28
Occupation: Investment Analyst
From: Plumstead, Cape Town

Mmaba is a young, successful Zulu woman with an infectious laugh. This warm, friendly and sociable financial analyst, who actually may love people more than numbers, is also passionate about developing and uplifting her community. In her spare time, she runs an NGO that cultivates young leaders and also tutors Grade 8 mathematics in Gugulethu. Originally from KZN, Mmaba moved to Cape Town to study a B.Com in Accounting. She describes herself as a steady, easy-going individual who can also be persistent when there are goals to achieve. Not only did she learn how to ride a bike in her late 20s, she also worked hard to be able to afford a plot of land for her mother to build a house on. "I think people will underestimate me," the bubbly go-getter says. "And that just suits me fine."^[2]

Survivor South Africa[]

Mmaba was part of the majority alliance on Laumei along with Geoffrey, Rose-Lee, and Mike. Though Laetitia was perceived as the weakest link and they were set to target her if they eventually lost a challenge, Rocco considered targeting Mmaba. However, original Laumei managed to avoid the first three Tribal Councils prior to the Tribe Swap.

Other than Rose-Lee, Mmaba's alliance remained together post swap on Sa'ula joined by original Ta'alo's Cobus and original Sa'Ula's Steffi and Nathan. Once again Mmaba found herself on a strong tribe that avoided Tribal Council in this phase, though she along with the rest of the tribe grew suspicious of Nathan after a failed challenge throw on Day 12.

Another swap saw Mmaba remain on Sa'Ula with Geoffrey and Nathan, where she and Geoffrey developed a friendship with Nicole, reconnected with original tribemate Durão, and obtained new rivals in Danté and Meryl. Both Geoffrey/Mmaba and Meryl/Danté were viewed as power couples and Nathan tried to pit them against each other. Following a Reward Challenge loss on Day 18, Danté criticized Geoffrey and Mmaba for being weak links, further fueling a conflict between Danté and Geoffrey. However, Mmaba, Durão, and Nicole successfully flushed Meryl's idol, weakening that power couple into the merge and blindsiding Nathan on Day 19.

Despite their success at Tribal Council, the merge saw Nicole and Durão retreat to previous alliances, meaning once Meryl was voted out on Day 22, Mmaba found her power and position on Manumalo decrease. She could not prevent Geoffrey's elimination on Day 24, resulting in Mmaba trying to find a spot in the powerful alliance known as "The Amigos" led by Rob Bentele, Nicole, and Steffi. Mmaba was involved in Seipei's blindside on Day 26, allowing for Danté to see an opening and attempt to recruit Mmaba, Mike, Laetitia, and Durão to challenge the Amigos. Mmaba was stuck though, as her closest remaining ally Mike trusted Rob and Nicole too much to make a move just yet. Mmaba helped the alliance eliminate Danté and Cobus, though they were unsuccessful in flushing outsider Jacques' idol.

On Day 31, Mmaba and Steffi were chosen by Manumalo to go to the Island of Secrets. After receiving a feast courtesy of Bio-Strath, the two competed in a challenge for an advantage. Mmaba easily defeated Steffi, receiving a clue to an idol hidden at the next Tribal Council. She told Steffi the advantage was for a challenge of her choice that could be used at any reward or Immunity Challenge up until Final 5. This only made Steffi wary of Mmaba, especially as her alliance searched for a secondary Split Vote target as Jacques still had his idol. At Day 32's Tribal Council, Jacques played his idol before the voting began, though Mmaba remained hopeful that she was not the vote split target. She found the idol in the urn but decided not to play it, which proved costly as she was indeed targeted by the amigos and voted out 5-1-0.

Voting History[]

Episode	Mmaba's Votes	Voted Against Mmaba
1	Laumei Tribe Immune
2	Laumei Tribe Immune
3	Laumei Tribe Immune
4	Sa'ula Tribe Immune
5	Sa'ula Tribe Immune
6	Sa'ula Tribe Immune
7	Sa'ula Tribe Immune
8	Nathan	-
9	Meryl	-
10	Danté	-
11	Seipei	Jacques, Seipei
12	Jacques	-
13	Jacques	-
14	~~Jacques~~¹	Durão, Laetitia, Nicole, Rob, Steffi
Voted Out, Day 32
Voted for Sole Survivor	Rob

^1 In "The Biggest Mother", Jacques used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating Mmaba's vote against him.

Post-Survivor[]

Trivia[]

Mmaba's 29th birthday occurred on Day 18 of Island of Secrets.
Mmaba and Geoffrey Cooke-Tonnesen share the Survivor South Africa record for the latest first visit to Tribal Council, attending their first Tribal Council on Day 19 of Island of Secrets.