Mr Gay World 2010 passes away at 33

Charl Van Den Berg, Mr Gay South Africa 2009 and Mr Gay World 2010, passed away in hospital on Thursday night. He lost his battle with lymphoma at the age of 33.

Van Den Berg was a restaurant manager in Cape Town when he was crowned Mr Gay World at the 2010 competition in Oslo. At the same time, he was a model and activist who was deeply involved with the local LGBT community.

Shortly after bagging the international title, Van Den Berg blogged, “Wow! What an amazing experience and first two weeks. I want to thank you all personally for supporting me in my endeavours and goal of representing South Africa on a global stage. My fellow competitors were amazing and taught me a significant amount in diversity, cultural adversity and the challenges the LBGT community faces. This has clearly set the goals and objectives for my reign as their global spokesman and new ambassador.”

He added that he was humbled by the support from his countrymen, which made him “proud to be a part of the Rainbow Nation that Mr Mandela envisaged nearly four decades ago”.

Coenie Kukkuk, Mr Gay World Director for Africa & Middle East, told Mamba Online that Van Den Berg’s passing was a blow to the LGBT community. He said, “Remember that after same-sex marriage was legalised in South Africa in 2006 there was a lot of bad press and resistance to the community. When Charl won Mr Gay World in February 2010, it was the first positive news about the LGBT community that was carried by the mainstream newspapers and it was on street poles throughout South Africa.”

Kukkuk reportedly described Van Den Berg as “an all-around nice guy”. “Any person could speak to him at any occasion and he was always friendly and never had any airs and graces,” Kukkuk said.

Below are a few more photos of Van Den Berg. RIP, Charl.