This year’s Top 10 Miss South Africa finalists – one of whom will be crowned Miss South Africa 2020 on Saturday, October 16 live from Grand West Arena in Cape Town – have been announced.
They are Bianca Bezuidenhout, Catherine Groenewald, Cheneil Hartzenberg, Jeanni Mulder, Kaylan Matthews, Kgothatso Dithebe, Lalela Mswane, Moratwe Masima, Tiffany Francis and Zimi Mabunzi.
For the second consecutive year, the pageant will take place in the Mother City and will be simulcast live on M-Net (DStv channel 101) and Mzansi Magic (DStv channel 161) at 17:00, as well as live-streamed on the My DStv App. International audiences can also tune in via the online platform at misssa.live.
The contestants represent four provinces – Gauteng has four (with one from Tshwane), followed by the Western Cape with three, the Eastern Cape with two and Kwa-Zulu Natal with one entrant. They are an impressive group and include a medical doctor working on the Covid frontline; a commercial pilot; owners of a model agency, swimwear company and an online bakery and legal graduates and students.
The Top 3 will go on to represent the country at the world’s three most prestigious pageants: Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss Supranational.
The Top 10 judges – all former Miss South Africa title holders – were Bokang Montjane-Tshabalala (2010), Liesl Laurie (2015), Melinda Bam (2011) and Tamaryn Green (2018).
This is an incredibly strong group of amazing and inspirational women. We look forward to watching them grow over the next few months and showcasing their platforms to the rest of the country.
Stephanie Weil, Miss South Africa’s CEO
The Top 10 Finalists (in alphabetical order of their first names)
Bianca Bezuidenhout (22)
Bianca hails from Strand in Cape Town, has a Bachelor of Arts degree in marketing communications and is currently completing her honours in media studies. She is also a dance instructor as well as a business owner of her own swimwear company called She Succeeds.
Catherine Groenewald (23)
Catherine is from Constantia in Cape Town and is in her final year of a B Com visual communications degree, majoring in graphic design. She is also a barre fitness instructor and full-time model with Topco Models. During lockdown she started an online business called Delish Bakery.
Cheneil Hartzenberg (24)
Cheneil comes from Meredale, Johannesburg in Gauteng, and is a commercial pilot and senior flight instructor in a managerial role at a flight school. She completed a digital marketing course with UCT online last year and is currently studying for her airline transport pilot licence.
Jeanni Mulder (24)
Jeanni is from Sea Point, Cape Town. She is a full-time model and describes herself as compassionate, strong-willed and genuine. She credits her mom for being her role model who has taught her to fight hard, love deeply and never to be afraid of being passionate about what makes you happy. In her spare time, she loves to do anything artsy, watch TV and play Texas Holdem Poker.
Kaylan Matthews (25)
Kaylan is from Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape and is in her final year of a Bachelors in Human Movement Science at the Nelson Mandela University. She has a huge love for exercise and living a healthy, wholesome lifestyle and wants to use her degree to motivate people to accept themselves and learn to love their bodies and fall in love with exercise and all its benefits.
Kgothatso Dithebe (26)
Kgothatso comes from Centurion, Pretoria, Gauteng. She is currently studying towards an LLB law degree and also runs her own company that deals with construction and the supply of goods and services. In her spare time, she goes to the gym, plays netball and loves trying out new recipes. She says her single biggest achievement was buying her first property this year.
Lalela Mswane (24)
Lalela is from KwaSokhulu, Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal, is a model and dancer and has a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Pretoria. She describes herself as graceful, tenacious and meticulous and says she would love to meet the Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi, to discuss ways of alleviating the growing unemployment problem.
Moratwe Masima (25)
She is from Atholl, Sandton in Gauteng, and is a qualified medical doctor doing her first year of internship at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital. She is an aspiring plastic and reconstructive surgeon who would love to meet the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Arden as she is in awe of how she has handled the global pandemic and how she always puts the livelihood of her citizens first.
Tiffany Francis (22)
Tiffany comes from Mulbarton, Johannesburg, she is the owner of Tiffany K Models as well as a professional model and fashion design student. Her role models are her mom and late aunt, both of whom taught her the value of having resilience and empathy. Her ideal break would be a week in Italy with Frank Sinatra playlists, beaches and eating pizza for days on end and her guilty pleasure is cheesecake.
Zimi Mabunzi (26)
Zinzi comes from eQonce (King William’s Town), in the Eastern Cape and is a student at the Nelson Mandela University in her final year of a BCom Law degree. She says she has a huge passion for music and would love to study it one day and make music of her own. In her spare time, she loves to work out, sing and cook and her favourite meal is umphokoqo and uumngqusho.
Miss South Africa is presented by Weil Entertainment in association with M-Net, Mzansi Magic and Sun International.
INSTAGRAM|@official_misssa
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