Andrew Benjamin Wins MasterChef South Africa Season 6
From his ouma’s kitchen to a R1 million win, Andrew Benjamin has cooked his way into MasterChef South Africa history.
Image credit: MasterChef SA
Andrew “Benjie” Benjamin has cooked his way into South African television history.
The 40-year-old Kimberley home cook has been crowned the winner of MasterChef South Africa Season 6, becoming the first contestant from the Northern Cape to take the title.
His victory also comes with a R1 million prize, giving Benjamin plenty of reason to celebrate after weeks of intense challenges, pressure-filled cooks and some seriously impressive plates.
Benjamin faced Durban finalist Candice Meth in the season finale, where the pair had two hours to prepare a three-course menu that captured their journeys through the competition.
For his starter, Benjamin went with pan-fried salmon served alongside leeks and a white wine sauce. His main course featured pork belly with fennel and apple purées, mushy peas and red wine jus. He finished with a dessert featuring meringue, vanilla sponge, raspberry coulis, chocolate crème pâtissière and vanilla ice cream.
It was a big final menu for a cook whose relationship with food started in a much more familiar setting: his grandmother’s kitchen.
Benjamin has spoken about spending time at his ouma’s side as a child, where he was given the kind of kitchen jobs many South Africans will recognise. Chopping onions, peeling potatoes, stirring the pot and checking the bread were all part of learning his way around food.
Those early lessons eventually became something much bigger.
Benjamin works maintaining high-voltage electricity transmission lines, a job that has taken him away from home at times. Being on the road also gave him more opportunities to develop his cooking skills, turning something that started in his grandmother’s kitchen into a serious passion.
That passion was clear throughout his MasterChef journey.
Benjamin entered the competition alongside 19 other home cooks, but it did not take long for him to make his presence felt. He picked up a Dish of the Day win during only the second episode and continued to build momentum as the competition progressed.
By the time the finalists were chosen, Benjamin had collected seven challenge victories. His strong run also earned him a 10-minute advantage for the final cook, giving him an extra edge when every second counted.
One of his memorable creations came from an ingredient associated with quick and easy meals: two-minute noodles.
Rather than simply serving the noodles in their usual form, Benjamin turned them into a dessert he called “Crêpes Suzette Benjette”. The unusual creation caught the attention of Chef Katlego Mlambo and became one of the dishes that helped showcase Benjamin’s willingness to take risks in the kitchen.
He also impressed guest judge Chef Nokx Majozi with a lamb pie, while another major highlight came during the show’s celebration of Mzansi’s food heritage. Benjamin won R100,000 during the special challenge, adding another significant achievement to his already impressive season.
Then there is the dish that remains particularly close to his heart: koesisters.
Benjamin has described the Cape favourite as his signature dish and enjoys it every Sunday. His food preferences also include mutton rib curry with pap and tomato smoor, dishes that speak to the flavours he grew up around and the food traditions that continue to influence his cooking.
MasterChef is not Benjamin’s first taste of a major cooking competition.
In 2024, he reached the final stage of the Afrikaans cooking series Kokkedoor: Vuur & Vlam, but ultimately fell short of the title. Losing at that stage could easily have ended the competitive cooking chapter for someone who already had a demanding career outside the kitchen.
Instead, Benjamin came back and went one better.
This time, he walked away with the MasterChef South Africa trophy and R1 million.
His victory is also significant beyond the prize money. Benjamin is the first MasterChef South Africa champion from the Northern Cape, putting Kimberley on the map in one of the country’s biggest cooking competitions.
Throughout the season, judges, fellow contestants and viewers affectionately referred to him as “Benjie Baby”, a nickname that reflected how much personality he brought to the competition.
Now that the competition is over, Benjamin has plans for the money and his growing food ambitions.
He intends to renovate his home and spoil the family members who stood behind him throughout the competition. He also plans to continue developing his pop-up restaurant, giving him a chance to take his cooking beyond the MasterChef kitchen and into the real world.
For someone whose culinary education started with chopping onions and checking bread in his ouma’s kitchen, winning R1 million and becoming a national cooking champion is quite the full-circle moment.
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