Miss conception
Mothers who missed a crack at Miss SA can enter as Mrs. Shanthini Naidoo finds out why they care
THE difference between Miss and Mrs South Africa is a few stretchmarks. It shows in the swimwear. The Mrs South Africa navy and white swimsuits look like regulation school uniform, fit for a swimming gala.
The costumes are flattering onesies, off-shoulders, monokinis or boob tubes. And the contestants are allowed to wear sarongs.
Finalist and marriage counsellor Tamara Booi is thankful. “We are married with kids. Although I am in good shape, there are some bits nobody wants to see, including me.”
Pageant CEO and former titleholder Joani Johnson claps her hands. “Use your body to your advantage,” she tells contestants. “I know I have a nice bum but my tummy is not so good. So I’ll turn my bum to the camera and judges.”
Last year’s winner, the reedy Chané De Kock, talks about practising in front of the bathroom mirror and Googling pageant walks.
The Mrs South Africa boot-camp weekend is being held in the middle of Paarl’s rainy, wintry June. Swimwear must be the most daunting section of the competition, Mrs or otherwise.
Johnson says swimwear is a requirement of the international pageant, or they would scrap it.
“The most important part of the competition is the interview, because the winner will be a spokesperson and brand ambassador,” she says.
A brand. Not only as the 12th Mrs South Africa, but spokesperson for all the missuses in South Africa. Mrs South Africa is “married, sophisticated, beautiful”.
It is a difficult concept to get one’s head around. Is being a beautifully groomed wife, mother and professional a position to aspire to? It sounds exhausting.
Johnson says: “The campaign we are promoting is, ‘she is bona fide’. Real women with lives, families, businesses. Some cook and some don’t. It is not a ‘Mrs’ in the traditional sense.”
No baking or stain removing in the competition then? “It’s about being the best you can be,” she says.
Reigning queen De Kock, a mother of three, is writing a book about healthy eating, and the toolbox for a modern woman.
“Before Mrs SA, I am a mommy who does my best to raise a healthy family. My reign helped me to hone my skills, especially in self-marketing. Life doesn’t have to stop if you are a mom,” she says.
Back at boot camp, it’s time for self-tanning lessons. “Don’t forget armpits and elbows.”
If traditional beauty pageants are considered cattle parades, you might expect Mrs South Africa to be a showcase of old cows. But there are none here. They are all-rounders: wives, some mothers, all attractive. Many are successful businesswomen and professionals. A powerhouse of women, selected from 187 entrants to fight, maturely, for the crown in August.
Well, mostly. There are a few poppies, as there are everywhere. Who could forget the Miss South Africa contestant who couldn’t name the Big Five?
One of the Missuses is a “glammy” — a glam granny — at 38. There are some peroxide blondes and orange fake tans who are after the tiara.
But there is also a pharmacist, a human resources consultant and a few bankers. A handful have entered because they missed their chance at the Miss South Africa title, which requires contestants to be between 18 to 27 and unmarried.
Mrs South Africa can be between 25 and 50. Marriage is a prerequisite but kids are not.
Professional dancer Anna Donkin is the youngest finalist at 25. A lithe brunette with striking eyes, she says the single status of Miss South Africa was “kind of prejudicial, making women fit into a mould. Being married doesn’t make you any less vivacious. I prefer what this competition stands for, the bona fide woman. It is more about the characteristics of a woman than beauty.”
Elbie Rudansky, 28, is darkhaired, elegant and long married with a baby daughter. A health and skincare adviser, she says, dreamily, that if the title was hers, she would promote family values.
“I think people have lost their moral compass,” she says. “The way to groom the next generation is to go back to the old-school way of family life. Like living with your boyfriend before you get married is a norm now. But if we stop that, it might help make marriages last longer. I want to give back what I grew up with.” And this is the platform? “The title will get me noticed. I was chubby and bullied at school. Through my work, I got healthy and lost weight, I learnt to feel beautiful.”
Tumi Motaung, 33, from Pretoria, spends a lot of the time on her iPad between the exercise, self-tanning lessons and motivational talks.
“I’ve already started working on a project that the title will help me achieve in a bigger way,” she says.
“I own a recruitment agency and often I find that young people do well but leave their communities behind. I want to raise awareness about giving back to the communities we came from. Bring the professionals back to uplift the kids who are not in school, and get them back into school.”
Sunninghill pharmacist Faith Ndamse, one of the older contestants at 38, says she entered a
’Don’t call me a MILF’
pageant at university to win a bursary for her studies. “I got it, that is how I am a pharmacist today, because I was a first princess.”
If she becomes Mrs SA, she will use the title to help educate people about health issues. “The power of a sash is you are immediately more noticeable when you wear it. There is a gap in the healthcare industry that I want to fill. Heart attacks happen because men don’t do health checks. The pageant provides a popular way to get a health message across.”
Northern Cape entrant Lizzy Staffa is one of the second-chancers. “I entered to prove to myself and the rest of South Africa that no matter where you come from you can succeed.
“I come from a poor background. I had my first-born at 19, got married and had another child at 21. Before I had my kids I was a teenager who wanted to enter Miss South Africa. I am still studying but I could have finished my studies and pursued a career by now. It was like my dreams were crushed.
“I want to show young girls that teenage pregnancy is not the end. Now I have life experience. I can motivate young girls to not to fall pregnant in their teens. If they do, they should still not stop pursuing their dreams. ”
Buxom but petite Sarah-Kate Scott agrees. From Hartbee-sport in North West, she looks like a Disney princess: big eyes and a pearly smile. The impressive cleavage, she says, is “thanks to my ninemonth-old, which reminds me,
I must express his milk soon.
“My life journey has resulted in making a lot of self-sacrifices. My three-year-old had kidney cancer a year ago, and was thankfully cured. It was life-changing. But you either let it defeat or define you. That will not be my life story, just a part of it. And part of my healing is to do something for myself.
“I was a Miss South Africa finalist in 2005, I was in a bikini at the Superbowl and everything. This is me picking it up again and I will use the title to support families dealing with childhood cancer.”
Alabaster bookkeeper Talitha Oosthuizen said she had lost her confidence, despite winning a pageant as a nine-year-old.
“When you are pretty and successful, people ignore you; they stay away. I became so insecure and had no real friends. I needed to do this for me and I feel good again.”
A youthful Riana Mooi, 41, has just completed her degree. Ten years of part-time studies and the banking risk manager graduated along with her 21-year-old son. She would not look out of place at university.
“My kids keep me young. Only my boobs sag, which gives my age away,” she laughs.
“I was a model before I got married and I still do campaigns, so I thought, why not enter the pageant? I have always been involved in community work and this is what the title is about: giving back, whether you win or not.
“There is a negative pageant perception. It does not mean you do not have a brain because you have entered a pageant. One of the entry requirements was to hold a Cuppa for Cansa and we raised a huge amount for a great cause.”
Last year the contest raised R300 000 for the Cancer Association of South Africa.
“Don’t call me a MILF,” says Mooi. “We women don’t need a title to define us, just because we have taken care of ourselves over the years.” LS @ShantzN
Mrs South Africa 2014 will be crowned at Emperors Palace Theatre of Marcellus on August 8.
’It does not mean you do not have a brain because you have entered a pageant’