Lisanne seeks change
IT MAY be third time the charm for Lisanne Lazarus, who is vying for the coveted Miss South Africa crown.
Lazarus, 25, of Amanzimtoti, was thrilled to learn this week that she made the top 30 of the Miss South Africa competition.
“The previous two times that I entered I was not even chosen. I cannot believe it is finally happening. I always knew that Miss South Africa was something I wanted to do and a platform I wanted to be on. I started prepping myself when I started my first pageant and was crowned Miss ethekwini in 2014 and continued over the years,” said Lazarus, a PR and brand officer for East Coast Radio.
Among the top 30 are two medical doctors, an attorney, a commercial pilot, an environmental specialist as well as models, graduates and students.
Some have started their own businesses while others run charitable organisations.
For the next few weeks they will be out to impress the judges and public to secure a spot in the top 10.
Lazarus said she prepared for three years for this moment to get in front of the judges and tell them who she is and why she believes so strongly she should be given this platform.
“I feel very excited about the road ahead. Being Miss SA is the job of my dreams. I entered Miss South Africa because the greatest display of change and evolution is through representation. I want to break every limiting expectation anyone has ever had of me and to represent an army of women who have ever been put in a box and held back,” she said.
“I want women and young girls to look at me and see hope, opportunity and a new beginning.
“The platform of Miss South Africa will be able to amplify that and give me an opportunity to stand as a vessel
for every untold story but, most importantly, inspire others to break their own glass ceilings. Being a young professional navigating the corporate world, whilst navigating my womanhood too, has taught me lots of life’s lessons and through disappointments, challenges and heartbreak come a new beginning and the rise of a stronger being.
“My hope is that this will start a chain reaction to a more inclusive generation where we are encouraged to find the beauty in our authenticity.”
Lazarus believes beauty pageants were a way to celebrate women, for who they are, what they look like and to give them a platform.
“It is a way to make a statement, to give women a microphone so that their voices can be amplified and their stories told,” she said.
Should she become Miss SA she would like every woman and child to see her as some sort of representation.
“I hope people can look at me and say she represents opportunity, hope and authenticity.
“I'm very passionate about access to an equal, early childhood development in the country. We can then see the unemployment rate coming down when we have an educated generation,” said Lazarus.
She said the pandemic had exacerbated the already high unemployment rate resulting in other multiple issues like mental health.
Lazarus said she was always in awe of former Miss SA and businesswoman Basetsana Kumalo who used the platform as a springboard to the rest of her life, as well as Priyanka Chopra Jonas, a woman who grew up in a traditional home but chose the unconventional route.