Saktyd
[3] In the show's finale on 9 October 2012, the 26-year-old proofreader and copywriter Christiaan Boonzaier from Cape Town was declared the winner in front of an audience of 6000 people.
[6] In turn, Weideman commented that the idea for Saktyd was born from readers and fans of the magazine, who wanted a behind-the-scenes look of what it takes to write a story for Huisgenoot.
[5] Saktyd's format was no different than other reality TV shows: In every episode of the 13-episode first season, challenges tested basic skills needed by a successful journalist in the world of magazine journalism.
[7] Although it was initially reported that the judges would send the contestants packing one by one,[7] two revelations were revealed in Episode 3 (which aired on 31 July 2012): The winner of Saktyd won a one-year contract to work as a journalist at Huisgenoot.
In the first episode (that aired on 17 July 2012), Saktyd's three judges are introduced – Izelle Venter, Wicus Pretorius en Haidee Muller.
Izelle takes viewers on a tour of the Huisgenoot office, which occupies two full floors in the Naspers building in Cape Town.
The second episode (that aired on 24 July 2012) opens with in-depth profiles of the 13 finalists; the diverse group is introduced at their homes, on a golf course, in the gym and at the beach (to name a few settings).
Each team could use the expertise of one South African celebrity comedian and singer: the Commas were assisted by Wicus van der Merwe, while the Full Stops were guided along the way by Emo Adams.
At the end of the challenge, Izelle (head judge) lauded the Full Stops' creativity, which eventually garnered them just under 5000 "likes" – a new record for a single post on Huisgenoot's Facebook page.
• Eliminated: Leon Flemmer In the fourth episode (that aired on 7 August 2012), both the Commas (Astrid, Christiaan [Red Beard], Christian, Jeannie, Lilian and Tercia) and the Full Stops (Elridus, Jolene, Jurie, Laura and Leilani) met the judges at Paarl Media in Cape Town — the largest printing company in Africa and one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, where close to 400 000 Huisgenoot magazines are printed weekly.
In The Chamber, both Christiaan [Red Beard] and Astrid acknowledged that the team worked well together, but that their choice to go to a largely English mall was a mistake.
On the contrary, the Commas were criticised for not including a 3-D graphic in their final product; Izelle also accused the team of copyright infringement, after they forgot to reference their sources.
• Eliminated: Elridus Grobler In episode six (that aired on 21 August 2012), the Commas (Christian, Jeannie, Jolene, Laura and Tercia) and Full Stops (Astrid, Christiaan [Red Beard], Jurie and Leilani) were tasked with giving two special guests and Huisgenoot readers — Leza van Heerden and Riana Gebhardt — makeovers; Riana was paired with the Commas, while Leza was paired with the Full Stops.
First, Christian, Jeannie and Tercia from the Comma team, and Astrid and Jurie from the Full Stops went to Woolworths to find clothes for the guests.
Although the Full Stops sailed through the task smoothly, things were rocky at the Comma team: Tercia continually irritated Christian by choosing the wrong clothing size for Riana 5 times in a row.
Laura, on the other hand, admitted that she would want to be a stylist for Huisgenoot's supplementary magazine Mooi [Afrikaans word for 'beautiful'] — a supplement that focuses on beauty and style.
• Eliminated: Tercia Jacobs In episode seven (that aired on 28 August 2012) the top 8 meet the judges at the Jan Kriel School in Kuils River.
Izelle (head judge) tells the contestants that teachers and teaching will be the theme of this week's challenge, as education is extremely important to Huisgenoot.
Both the Full Stop and Comma teams are dissolved, and the first individual challenge is announced, as the judges want to determine what the writing level of each member in the top 8 is.
At judging, Izelle criticises most of the articles, especially Jolene, who did not execute the challenge correctly, Jurie, who used no quotes in his work, Laura, who had spelling problems, and Leilani, who did not use paragraphs.
On set, all the contestants meet Valiant Swart and Bok van Blerk – two of the Afrikaans music industry's most prominent artists – who help them with quotes and info for their respective articles.
Back at the Naspers building, the contestants start to compile their pages by reviewing a CD by Ray Dylan, and then work with a layout artist to finish their products.
In a post-elimination interview, Christian remarks that he – just like Lilian in Episode 4 – feels immensely betrayed by Jeannie, who stabbed him in the back, when he considered her his best friend in the game.
In an unusual twist, Izelle gives Jurie four envelopes, and instructs him to take it to Astrid, Christiaan (Red Beard) and Jeannie.
Even though Jeannie was criticised for not asking the right questions, focusing her stories on irrelevant topics, she is lauded for a product that is of a much higher standard than her teammates.
After Izelle considers their reasons, noting that she wants to let two people stay who she knows could learn from their mistakes and not make them again, she eliminates Jurie, who made his sixth exit (in 11 episodes) from The Chamber.
Similarly, Astrid is also lauded for a phenomenal article, although she forgot to write her own experience into the story, and therefore neglected to perform the challenge completely.
• Eliminated: Jeannie Erasmus In episode 13 – the season finale (that aired on 9 October 2012) – the top 2, Astrid and Christiaan (Red Beard), meet the judges in the assignment room.
Four months later, Astrid and Christiaan (Red Beard) are quite tense – and rightly so, after they walk out on stage in front of an audience of 6000, together with the judges and the head of kykNET, Karen Meiring.
In a post-win interview, Christiaan (Red Beard) admitted that his new job intimidates him but that it's a good thing, as he wants his new "magazine family" to challenge him every day.
