Meet the new Mr SA

South Africa has a new representative for masculine looks, charm and smarts.

Law graduate Armand du Plessis, 25, from Krugersdorp took the title of Mr SA last night.

His runners up are Morne Marais (28, personal trainer) and Sibusiso Sibanda (27, motivational speaker, sales manager and cancer ambassador).

The organisers said in a statement Du Plessis and other contestants had participated in 12 months of tasks for judges to evaluate their leadership and interpersonal skills. The programme included a 100-day social media campaign.

Photography and travelling are amongst his interests, while he cites his favourite quote as: ""The sky has never been the limit. We are our own limits. It’s then about breaking our personal limits and outgrowing ourselves to live our best lives".

CEO Rudi Baker said the theme of this year's competition was "Men of Honour" and so the search was on for someone who could live up to "a lifestyle that positively influences the lives of others every day and epitomises accountability, care, respect, honesty, integrity and obligation".

The organisers announced that Du Plessis had won prizes amounting to over R500,000, but there is no cash windfall (for those of us who were wondering); rather, the prizes are mostly products from sponsors.

In addition to Baker, the Mr South Africa 2014 competition judges were Madelain Roscher, Managing Director of PR Worx, Africa’s top awarded public relations company; Joelene Leeuwnar-Maritz, Attorney, Conveyancer and Notary at Leeuwnar-Maritz Attorneys and the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s 2014 Business Woman of The Year; and Nambitha Mpumlwana, a star of the soap opera, Generations.

One of the best known Mr SA's is Adriaan Bergh, the 2011 winner, who wed former Miss SA Melinda Bam in Johannesburg in November last year, after he'd proposed on top of Dubai's Burj Khalifa skyscraper the year before.