Roberto-Rui Agrela, a 33-year-old car salesman from Paarl, has claimed the top spot at the 33rd Shoprite and Checkers Championship Boerewors finale, held at Cabo Beach Club in Cape Town on Saturday 23 August.  

The air was thick with smoke and spices as experts from the South African Chefs Association (SACA) painstakingly evaluated every detail of the finalists’ freshly made and braaied boerewors. Just as anticipation neared breaking point, Agrela emerged, tongs in hand, as the country’s No.1 boerewors maker - outdoing more than 2 350 hopefuls who entered the competition this year. 

“En daar’s net een wors, dis die boerewors…” is the catchy Afrikaans song, Boereworsgordyn, by Robbie Wessels and Appel that sparked the idea for Agrela to make his own boerewors for the first time. He was very nervous when he heard he had made the Top 10 and spent the weeks leading up to the finale practicing and refining his recipe and braai techniques.  

“It can’t believe I’m the winner,” says Agrela. “It was my first time entering the competition and I never in my wildest dreams thought that my passion for braai, and inspiration from a song, would bring me to this place. It just shows that you need to remain true to yourself, keep believing and trying, and – always stay humble.” 

Along with the bragging rights, Agrela drives away in a Toyota Fortuner 2.4 GD-6 RB AT and R20 000 in cash. 

The Top 10 finalists represented every corner of South Africa – from De Aar and Swellendam to Ladysmith, the Boland and even Benoni.  

Second place went to 47-year-old Roland Blaauw from Wellington who works as an Application Support Specialist for the Shoprite Group, while Asheel Beharie – a 40-year-old entrepreneur from Ladysmith – took third, showing just how diverse the field was in both experience and boerewors style. 

From 5 September, South Africans can taste SA’s number 1 Championship Boerewors for themselves when it hits Shoprite and Checkers shelves nationwide; perfectly timed for the braai fires that will be lit during the Springboks’ clash against New Zealand on 6 September – and just in time for Heritage Month. 

Last year alone, Championship Boerewors fans bought enough wors to make 56 million boerewors rolls – a stretch of 8 393 km, long enough to run from Cape Town to Austria. With this year’s new recipe, even more rolls are expected to fly off the braais.    

The other Top 10 finalists were: 

• Ayanda Dyanse – Butcher at the Shoprite Humansdorp, Eastern Cape 
• Emmerencia Pretorius – Rescue technician, Swellendam, Western Cape 
• Keani van Drimmelen – Human resources and finance, Benoni, Gauteng 
• Niekie Horn – Administrator at a safe house, De Aar, Northern Cape 
• Thandanani Buthelezi – Barista, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal 
• Tyron Adams – Chef, Wellington, Western Cape 
• Xavier Blaauw – Matric learner, Wellington, Western Cape 

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