SOUTH AFRICA, THE WORLD, THE UNIVERSE
Social issues take centre stage with pageant whizzes
From left, Thandokazi Mfundisi, Tamaryn Green and Karishma Ramdev will be competing for two Miss South Africa titles at the Sun Arena at Time Square, Pretoria, tonight. One winner will receive the Miss World South Africa title and the other will be crowned Miss Universe South Africa, and each will take part in her respective global beauty pageant.
● It’s not all haute couture, bikini struts and a crown when 12 hopefuls compete for the title of Miss South Africa tonight.
Also, this year’s crop are not only models with dreams of world peace. The 12 finalists number among them a master’s student in neuroscience, a financial controller, several medical students, an LLB student, a property manager, a BCom accounting student and a BCom marketing student.
But weighing heavily on the hearts of some of the contestants is the surge in domestic violence and sexual harassment.
But before they address the country’s social issues the women will vie for two titles — a departure from 59 years of tradition.
One winner will receive the Miss World South Africa title and the other will be crowned Miss Universe South Africa.
The two will represent South Africa in the respective international competitions. The two winners will then be asked one final question by the panel of judges, to determine the ultimate Miss South Africa.
For Thandokazi Mfundisi, a 24-year-old LLB student from the Eastern Cape, domestic violence is an issue that’s close to home. She was in a physically and emotionally abusive relationship, and felt isolated and alone after her friends and family were shut out.
Describing herself as an “insecure but very confident” woman, the final-year law student reached breaking point when she had to rewrite an exam she had missed.
“I would justify the things he did and said. I used to think: ‘What did I do to contribute?’ And I realised that the answer was simple. I stayed. Eventually I just decided to value myself and get out,” Mfundisi said.
University of Cape Town final-year medical student Tamaryn Green, 23, believes child trauma and domestic violence are among the biggest social issues facing South Africans.
She said many of her female patients had confided to her about being abused by their partners.
“You realise you’re not just there to treat the illness or the injury but you work with human beings. I try my best to make my patients feel safe and then advise them to speak up.”
KwaZulu-Natal hopeful Karishma Ramdev, 23, a fifth-year medical student at the University of Pretoria, said she had also experienced sexual harassment.
“It’s so degrading. What I’ve experienced is very light, but it’s also because I don’t entertain those things,” Ramdev said.
Mfundisi, Green and Ramdev will join Akile Khoza, Anzelle von Staden, Bryoni Govender, Daniellé de Jager, Margo Fargo, Noxolo Ndebele, Tamarin Bensch, Tharina Botes and Thulisa Keyi in tonight’s competition.
While they take to the stage in designer garments and white swimsuits with Aztecprint kaftans, South Africans can place their bets. The finalists’ odds will shift according to the bets placed.
During last year’s lead-up to the crowning, bets were widespread.
The winner of last year’s pageant, DemiLeigh Nel-Peters, had the shortest odds at 3:1.
Several previous winners are expected to attend tonight to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the competition. Two former Miss Worlds, Penny Coelen and Anneline Kriel, and a former Miss Universe, Margaret Gardiner, will attend.
Several black beauty queens have expressed disappointment that winners of the apartheid-era pageants Miss Africa South and Miss Black South Africa have not been invited.
The show, which takes place at the Sun Arena at Time Square, Pretoria, will be hosted by TV personality Bonang Matheba.
The judges will be TV talk-show host and radio DJ Anele Mdoda, marketer and author Khaya Dlanga, businesswoman and media mogul Khanyi Dhlomo, entrepreneur and Top Billing presenter Janez Vermeiren, magazine editor Michelle van Breda, celebrity chef and TV personality Siba Mtongana and Miss World 2014 Rolene Strauss.
It will be televised live on M-Net and Mzansi Magic.