Medical doctor wins first-ever Miss World SA pageant

Mpumalanga doctor, Claude Mashego has been crowned the first-ever Miss World South Africa.

While the national team’s fifteen players geared to unleash their final wrath on the rugby pitch, twelve of the country’s most beautiful women went head-to-head for the Miss World SA crown.

The inaugural pageant was held at the Pretoria State Theatre on Saturday evening.

As the newly crowned reigning queen, Claude will represent the country at the Miss World pageant next year in New Delhi, India.

Young leaders, rise up

When asked why she believed the pageant was important, Claude gave a convincing response, which ultimately clenched the beauty queen her well deserved victory. 

“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. 

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“We’re going towards the 2024 elections and we always ask the question, ‘where are the young people in parliament?’

“These young women [referring to fellow finalists] are standing here to prove themselves as worthy leaders to take this country forward,” she said.

Crown fit for royalty

The inaugural Miss World SA crown named Peo, meaning seed, was designed and made by local company NQ Jewellery Design Services. 

Initials of finalists from the first cohort were engraved on the crown in gold.

Pageant runner and media mogul Carol Bouwer said “while the winners may wear various crowns over the years, this one shall remail our ‘forever crown.’

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Carol Bouwer Productions was awarded the licence to host the Miss World SA pageant earlier this year, which was previously held by the Miss South Africa Organisation.

Media personality Minnie Dlamini was the MC for the night, while musicians like Unathi and Jimmy Dludlu kept the audience entertained. 

The pageant ended right on time for attendees to catch the Springboks’ final Rugby World Cup match.