While the Springboks were in France making history, Dr Claude Mashego made history of her own this weekend by becoming the first-ever winner of Miss World South Africa.
Taking place at the Pretoria State Theatre, businesswoman Carol Bouwer’s Miss World South Africa event was hosted by media personality Minnie Dlamini, and had singers Unathi and Jimmy Dludlu to entertain the crowd.
Those who took on the role as judges included Miss World 2014, Dr Rolene Strauss, dentist Dr Norman Cahi, King of the Universe 2021 Daniel Asiwe, Vice President-Brand, Creativity and Talent Development at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Dato Tiffanee Marie Lim, Acting CEO of Brand South Africa Sithembile Ntombela, Head of Content and Brand of The Africa Channel, Ava Hall and former beauty queen, Realeboga Malatji.
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Miss World 2022 Karolina Bielawska of Poland was there to crown Claude, who previously stated that if she were to win the global title, she would want to build a network of young leaders and community builders in South Africa. She also strives to do the same across the African continent through her non-profit company, the Young Leaders Network.
“There will be communities I can never reach for geographical reasons because I am just one person. But can you imagine what we could achieve if young people across this country and continent came together with the common goal of building Africa into the powerhouse we know it can be?”
During the pageant, when asked by Minnie why she feels the Miss World South Africa platform is important, Claude stated, “I believe the Miss Word SA platform is a platform for leadership for young people, and I’m saying this because we see the need of the rising of young leaders in our country.”
She continued, “We’re going towards the 2024 elections and we always ask the question, ‘where are the young people in parliament?’ Now, these young women [the finalists] are standing here to prove themselves as worthy leaders to take this country forward.”
The 24-year-old medical doctor, who hails from Mpumalanga, will represent the nation at the Miss World pageant in India next year.
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