Pageant queen’s beauty still shines
Mrs SA finalist believes she is a perfect fit for title
They say that like fine wine, women get better with time.
This is true in the case of pageant queen Matapa Maila Rikhotso who is a finalist in the Mrs South Africa pageant, nine years after she was a runner-up for Miss SA.
The Mrs SA pageant is set to tale place later on in the year.
Rikhotso was crowned first princess in the 2009 Miss SA pageant and hopes to clinch the senior version of the beauty pageant this year.
“I realised that when I entered Miss SA I was a bit younger and maybe even my own mandate as to why I was doing it was not very clear.
“When I heard about Mrs SA and what they do, how they empower women and how they make a real difference in communities, I realised that with my story I can help women in South Africa,” she said.
Rikhotso says she is a different woman from the beauty queen who had a bright smile, perfect skin and a beautiful body when she entered
Miss SA many moons ago.
She is a mother and has made her way up the corporate ladder as a lead logistics adviser for Sasol Oil in Johannesburg.
“I can be a mom, a wife and advance my studies.
“I want to ask other women ‘what is it that’s stopping you?’ For me that is my narrative as to why I entered the pageant again.”
The Limpopo beauty says her story of the village girl raised by her grandmother in poverty is an inspiration to many women.
Rikhotso was crowned Miss Earth in 2008 before participating in the Miss SA pageant the following year.
“I might not have won Miss SA at the time, but looking back I realise it was a journey that I needed to prepare for this very moment. I am able to express myself confidently today without doubting myself. I don’t think this is a skill that came from nothing. I have gained certain things because of that pageant.”
She believes she is a perfect fit for the Mrs SA title.
As an advocate for good health and the environment, Rikhotso is leading a group which aims to help clean up the rat-infested Alexandra township tomorrow.