WILDERNESS NEWS - Kwela's Town of the Year 2025 will be announced this Sunday evening, 3 August at 19:00, and many thousands of proud Western Cape residents are holding thumbs for our fabulous finalist, Wilderness!
Followers of the competition had a week to vote for one of the nine finalists in kykNET's prestigious annual competition.
George Municipality, George Herald and local residents mounted a fabulous online campaign to garner votes for the beautiful coastal town of Wilderness before votes closed on 18 July.
Winning the title will bring great exposure and investment to Wilderness, including R1-million in advertising on kykNET platforms, as well as R1-million in cash from Lottoland. And don't forget the fabulous celebration party!
If Wilderness emerges victorious, the cash will be used to fix the Wilderness Boardwalk - a pathway enjoyed daily by residents and visitors alike.
AI favours Wilderness
If the results of an AI search on ChatGPT is to be believed, Wilderness has mounted the most visible and proactive campaign to get people voting.
This is what Chat GPT said:
Wilderness
Consistent social media posts across Facebook, Instagram reels, TikTok, and municipal/community accounts since early May, encouraging votes.
Featured prominently in local media such as George Herald, with detailed write-ups and strong calls to action.
City officials (including the Mayor) widely promoting the campaign via TikTok videos urging residents to “LET’S VOTE TO SECURE WILDERNESS…”
KZN in with a chance
Chat GPT also gives Pennington in KwaZulu-Natal a running chance:
Pennington is the KwaZulu–Natal finalist and ran a major campaign supported by Tidy Towns Pennington NPO, with heavy media, SMS encouragement, and community promotion
The town’s Blue Flag beaches, golf facilities and active local involvement may have mobilised a high volume of votes across the region.
ChatGPT's conclusion
My Estimate
If the winning town did exceptionally well regionally, Wilderness may have secured a leading edge - it reportedly had surging support in the Western Cape voting stages.
Alternatively, Pennington’s organised community drive and broad provincial outreach might have translated into higher final votes.
If I had to guess, Wilderness likely received the most votes in the final round, followed closely by Pennington - both had strong regional momentum.
But without official figures, it's speculative.
Wait and see
With the word "speculative", ChatGPT neatly covers all its bases, so we can only wait and see whether AI's interpretation of the info it found online, turns out to be spot-on.
If so, Saturday may turn out to be a Winning Day for Wilderness and the Western Cape - three Ws, just like the World Wide Web ChatGPT used for its AI search!
The other "also-rans" are:
Fauresmith (Free State);
Rehoboth (Namibia);
Blomhof (North West)
Port Alfred (Eastern Cape)
Richmond (Northern Cape)
Witrivier (Mpumalanga)
Mookapong (Limpopo)
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