This is the difference between the winner and a winner.
So:
The first identifies her as the specific winner. The second just says she is one winner among possible others, or describes her more generally.
Afrikaans main clauses usually follow a verb-second pattern. That means the finite verb normally comes in the second position.
In this sentence:
So the structure is very normal.
You can also move another element to the front for emphasis, but then the verb still stays second:
That is also correct, but it puts more focus on currently.
Yes. Wenner comes from the verb wen, which means to win.
So:
The ending -er often forms a person who does the action, just like in English:
That makes wenner easy to remember.
A rough English guide is:
So the whole sentence is roughly:
say iss tahns dee VEN-er
That is only an approximation, but it helps avoid one very common mistake: pronouncing die like the English verb die.
It describes a state, not an action.
The sentence is not saying that she is in the process of winning. It says that, at the present moment, she holds the status of the winner.
So the structure is:
That is why is works naturally here: it links the subject to her current status.