During this period, achievements included publishing three Nobel Prize winners for Literature, including South African Nadine Gordimer; famous South Africans such as Gary Player, Zapiro, Jo-Ann Strauss, Herschelle Gibbs, Kenny Kunene, Ronny Kasrils, AKA, Francois van Coke and more stepped to the plate for the famous Playboy interviews; and top writers and journalists such as Egmont Sippel, David Bullard, Deon Maas, Arthur Goldstuck, Rich Mulholland and Andre Brink helped set the tone for the quality of content delivered each month. International stars such as Sasha Baron-Cohen and Shane Warne interacted with Playboy SA to produce content and Hugh Hefner cut a video to congratulate the first South African Playmate of the Year, Jade Fairbrother, who will also be visiting the Playboy Mansion and has a scheduled movie night at the mansion with Hef himself.

More than 100 000 people follow the local Playboy family on Twitter and approximately 75 000 fans have interacted with Playboy's brand ambassadors at events and trade shows.

Despite Playboy winning every case lodged at the Advertising Standards Authority, and with its first advertising campaign going viral with almost a million YouTube hits in three weeks, retailers have remained wary of stocking Playboy, and media agencies and marketing managers have perceived it as risky to advertise in it. According to Charl du Plessis, publisher and editor-in-chief, “These people just get it so wrong. South Africans and not nearly as conservative as what media buyers and retailers think. It is a very small, and I repeat, a very small vocal minority that have issues with nudity, yet they scare big companies. Our biggest disappointment has been that these same large corporations have not shown the guts to stand up and throw their weight behind freedom of speech and tolerance. Those are real issues and under serious threat in South Africa. Just think about the cover-up and reluctance by the President to come clean, once again, now in the case of SA troops in CAR. In the meantime, media agencies are asking for new ideas, yet skipping over the one magazine that has all the space and attitude for cutting edge concepts."

Du Plessis continues: “If our first two years have been about attention and noise, our next year will be about class and our social mission. Playboy belongs in South Africa because South Africans have not yet grown used to the freedoms we have – speech, choice, association, sexual orientation, and more. Playboy is in SA to publish beautiful naked women and the very best lifestyle features, yes, but foremost to challenge the status quo and to help reshape the world we live in into a better place, as Playboy has done internationally for 60 years.”

The anniversary edition of Playboy SA features the very popular Playmate, Yolandi Malherbe on its cover, and includes Jo-Ann Strauss and an interview with local adventurer, Riaan Manser. It can be read in print or through a free or paid premium digital edition via the Playboy website at www.playboy.co.za.

For more information, follow @PlayboyMagSA on Twitter or 'Like' the Playboy SA page on Facebook.