East London beauty wins Miss Teen Universe South Africa
Nineteen-year-old Sarah-Jayne Johnson flew the flag high for the Eastern Cape and brought home the crown at the Teen Universe SA 2022 pageant that was held in Johannesburg on February 26 and 27.
The East London teen will compete in Nicaragua, in Central America, in October for the Universal Beauty International title.
Sarah-Jayne is also reigning first princess for Miss Eastern Cape Beauty With a Purpose, as well as Miss Teenager Eastern Cape.
“Being crowned Universal beauty South Africa is such an honour.
“By representing this title I know that I will be able to achieve great things in my year of reign and continue to do so in the future,” she said.
“This pageant is bigger than myself but I know with all the support from family and friends that I will be able to make South Africans proud when representing our county in Nicaragua in October.”
Her mother, Meloday Johnson said: “I am so incredibly proud of her, to be crowned the most beautiful teen inside and out of South Africa.”
The garment and pattern maker who designed Sarah’s dress for the pageant is local fashion designer Sinesipho Nqwiliso.
She said most of the dress ideas were SarahJayne’s.
“We also had to keep in mind specifications from Miss Teen Universe.
“They had their own specifications of what to wear and what not to wear. My part was to bring to life what Sarah had in mind.
“I’m a designer who understands the kind of style that suits her body as I’ve worked with her over the years.”
Sarah-Jayne lives by the motto “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”.
She has just launched a support group called Reach Out and Speak Up.
“It is an amazing opportunity to grow my support group.
“Reach Out and Speak Up is where people can come to me, reach out with all the problems they are dealing with and I’ll be able to speak up for them and help in any possible way I can.”
She said the group was the beginning of another one of her dreams, which was to have her own foundation one day.