Durban’s Miss SA top 30 finalist aims to empower young women
She looks up to Basetsana Khumalo as she is always in awe of how she used the platform of Miss South Africa as a springboard for the rest of her life, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, a woman who grew up in a traditional home but chose the unconventional route.
DURBAN resident, Lisanne Lazarus, who is one of the women representing KZN in the Miss South Africa pageant, is not just a beauty with brains. Apart from the several pageant titles to her name, Lazarus is also the PR and brand officer for a local radio station in KZN.
This 25-year-old, who is now in the top 30, said her life experiences prompted her to enter Miss SA 2021. According to Lazarus, her journey to womanhood has not been an easy one, from expectations of her conservative upbringing to expectations from the world on what a woman should be.
“I am ready to face my power and embrace my future. It is time to write my own story; to stand tall in my individuality and to redefine what it means to be a woman. 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.
Lazarus said she wants young girls to look at her and see hope, opportunity, and a new beginning.
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“The platform of Miss South Africa will be able to amplify that and allow me to stand as a vessel for every untold story but, most importantly, inspire others to break their glass ceilings. Being a young professional navigating the corporate world while navigating my womanhood too has taught me lots of life’s lessons and through disappointments, challenges and heartbreak come a new beginning and a rise of a stronger being. I hope that this will start a chain reaction to a more inclusive generation where we are encouraged to find the beauty in our authenticity,” said Lazarus.
When asked about the beauty competitions she has previously entered, she said she entered and won Miss eThekwini 2014, Miss DUT 2015, Miss South Africa Campus 1st Runner Up 2016, Miss Mamelodi Sundowns KZN Princess 2016/17, Miss Mamelodi Sundowns National 2nd Runner Up 2016/17.
She looks up to Basetsana Khumalo as she is always in awe of how she used the platform of Miss South Africa as a springboard for the rest of her life, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, a woman who grew up in a traditional home but chose the unconventional route.
When asked what her message to young girls and young women in South Africa was, she said, “I learned an important lesson about the power of belief. Your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions and your actions become your reality. So if you have a dream or a goal, if you can think it and speak it, you can achieve it. You are the author of your book, believe in the power of you”.
You can follow her on Facebook: Lisanne Lazarus, Instagram: @lisannelazaruss, Twitter: @LazarusLisanne.
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