GLAMOUR WITH GRATITUDE
Reigning Miss SA Natasha Joubert is using her hard-won platform to make a difference in the world
SHE was gobsmacked when Eva Longoria complimented her on her gown at Paris Fashion Week, where she was a guest of honour for the swanky fashion event’s sponsor, L’Oréal Paris. Reigning Miss South Africa Natasha Joubert was even more surprised when the glamorous Desperate Housewives actress invited her to meet her friends in the fashion capital of the world. “She’s the kindest person. I think she confused me with someone else,” she says with a grin. “But that’s okay!’
Either way, you can’t blame Eva for being bowled over by the beauty queen. Three months after she was crowned she continues to dazzle and is fully booked for the next few months with glitzy award nights and fundraising galas. Everyone seems to want a piece of her but she isn’t taking anything for granted.
“You have to receive everything with a very grateful heart because you can get used to it very quickly and then you realise afterwards that you didn’t appreciate it,” she says.
South Africans first got to know Natasha in 2020 when she was crowned second runner-up at the Miss South Africa pageant. A year later she represented SA at the Miss Universe pageant and when she didn’t make the top 21, she fell into a deep depression.
After taking a break and prioritising her mental health, she entered Miss SA again this year. As resilient as she is, she wouldn’t have won without the support of her fans, she says.
“People who felt that pain of my Miss
Universe experience carried me – it was kind of a journey I walked with the country.”
Natasha didn’t take part in the Miss Universe 2023 pageant in November because she wants to make the most of the crown she’s worked so hard for.
“Because what I do here – the opportunities I have – is everything I wanted. This is my home. This is where I want to be,” she says.
SHE entered the local competition because she wanted to have a platform to help people help themselves – and now she has it. The green-eyed beauty from Centurion has been so busy carrying out her duties that she’s barely seen her family and friends since she was crowned in August.
Fortunately, she says her loved ones are understanding of her long absences from home. “They knew it was going to be a year where very few people saw me,” she tells us when we catch up with her at
The Maslow Hotel in Sandton.
“And even my best friends will say, ‘Stop saying sorry, we knew it was going to be this way’.”
After being crowned, Natasha (26) walked away with prizes worth more than
R3 million, including a luxury apartment at the lavish Brookfield at Royal in Kensington, Johannesburg, for
the year of her reign.
Yet she prefers to spend her downtime in the Centurion house she shares with her longtime boyfriend, Enrico Vermaak. Here she loves nothing more than removing her makeup, kicking off her high heels and chilling in her garden with her roses and jasmine.
“As a child I never knew what the fascination with gardening was until I got my own garden,” she shares.
The couple have been together for eight years and bought their home in 2021. Enrico (26), a project manager, isn’t interested in joining his partner in the spotlight and prefers to spend his free time on the shooting range.
“He likes to support me from the sidelines, which I really appreciate because when you come home you want to switch off from it,” she says.
The couple enjoy cooking together, watching movies and taking their three beloved Maltese poodles – Abigail, Bailey and Cody, or ABC as they call the trio – on walks in the park. Cody (11) is the oldest and used to belong to Natasha’s dad Jaco, before he died of septicaemia 10 years ago.
“Cody was very attached to my father and now he’s superattached to Enrico, even though he never met my dad,” she says.
NATASHA and Enrico are high-school sweethearts and when asked if there’s any talk of an engagement in the future, she doesn’t hesitate. “Yes, definitely. But you should ask Enrico when it will happen Because I also want to know,” she jokes.
She adds they would have become engaged earlier if she hadn’t entered Miss SA this year.
“Although the rules allow [ for fiancés], I didn’t want a year where we were engaged but we couldn’t actually spend time together or organise a wedding. So everything has its own season
but I told him I was ready. I’d love to get married in the next two years, for sure.”
For now she wants to serve her country and her crown. Her mom, Ninette, struggled to pay for her daughter’s fashion studies after Jaco’s death and Natasha wants to use her platform to help others who can’t afford education.
She has already collected more than R2 million for her project, which she runs with Boston City Campus to give scholarships to poor students. When she was in Cape Town recently she persuaded a bunch of bigwigs in the business world to open their wallets and support her cause.
“Next year things are going to go full steam ahead because I’m going to every province,” she adds.
Natasha is determined to show that Miss South Africa isn’t just a pretty face but someone who can make a significant difference in society. Just the other day she was trolled on Instagram by a cyberbully who wanted to know what she actually does as Miss SA.
Ironically, Natasha says, it was her busiest week yet in her term: photoshoots, an awards night, participation in a women’s panel and she walked the runway at Joburg Fashion Week.
“Sometimes people don’t see Miss South Africa as a job – and that’s why I want to make a point of changing lives. Then people can turn around afterwards and say, ‘Being Miss South Africa brings change’.”
After completing her reign, she wants to become a TV sports presenter. “And who knows, maybe in four years’ time I’ll be reporting on the Rugby World Cup in Australia,” she says. “If I put my mind to something and I manifest it, I always make it happen. Being a SuperSport presenter would really suit me so well.”
She switches to a serious voice, as if reporting on a game. “Victor, what did you think of that drop goal? I think the angle is a bit off, but . . .” she says with a laugh.
Natasha doesn’t take herself too seriously but don’t be fooled: when it comes to chasing her dreams, she’s 100% committed.