This week on My Kitchen Rules South Africa, it’s the first three-course semi-final showdown! Viewers can look forward to a city-versus-country cook-off as Donald and Luyanda compete against Rox and Spoen in a war of flavours for a place in the final.

Each of the top four teams have only one shot to impress the show's resident judges, David Higgs and J’Something, as well as four new guest judges who return for the second season. The famous South African chefs bring to the table their own special skill sets and international reputations, so Donald and Luyanda, Rox and Spoen, Kim and Pashi and Maj and Joleen will need to bring their A-game and nothing less.

On the panel judging the semi-finalists are:

• Restaurateur, award-winning chef, former MasterChef SA judge and cook book author, Reuben Riffel. Reuben’s restaurant, Reuben's in Franschhoek, has ranked in South Africa’s Top 10 restaurants for three consecutive years, and his cook books have all been best sellers. The successful restaurateur has also recently opened a new eatery in Johannesburg, Reuben’s @ The Capital in Sandton.
• Caterer, chef and cookbook writer, Karen Dudley is well known for her fresh and wholesome dishes at her restaurants in Woodstock – The Kitchen and two doors down her second eatery The Dining Room. This globe-trotting chef has worked in Washington DC, where she learnt the endless possibilities of food, as well as in England where she learnt how to “do” parties for England’s high society. On home soil, she has cooked for the likes of Michelle Obama, the former US First Lady. Her latest cook book, Set a Table, appears in October.
• Award-winning sustainable resources and ethical chef, Vanessa Marx who brings her diverse international experience to the MKR judging panel, having completed her apprenticeship with celebrity chef Pete Goffe-Wood, and later travelling overseas to broaden her experience in the UK and Europe. Vanessa is also an ambassador for SASSI (South African Sustainable Seafood Institute).
• Celebrity chef Lentswe Bhengu is best known as the host of the popular Africa on a Plate TV series. Bhengu trained at the prestigious The Culinary Academy in the Cape Winelands and has worked in prominent kitchens such as Savoy Cabbage, The Roundhouse and Saucisse Deli.

In this intense episode, the challenge is to create a three-course meal with only two hours allowed for preparation, 30 minutes serving time each for the starter and dessert and an hour serving time for the mains. The contestants have to plate ten identical servings of each dish, as their competitors (Maj and Joleen and Kim and Pashi) will also be tasting their dishes! The teams will thereafter be awarded an overall experience score from the expert guest judges as well as J’Something and David Higgs, who are looking for evidence of growth from the home cooks. 

Who will win the flavour war and make it to the final, and who will cook for the very last time at Kitchen HQ? Tune in tonight at 18:00 to catch all the action.

Watch exclusive interviews with our judges and contestants here. Follow all the breaking news and conversations around the show on Twitter @MNet / #MKRSA or on the official M-Net Facebook page.