New crown for Miss South Africa

The new crown’s name, Enhle, which means “beautiful one” in isiZulu, was chosen through a social media competition which attracted hundreds of entries. A key feature of the crown, which is made of silver, is the inclusion of an infinity sign to symbolise the enormity and ongoing nature of Miss South Africa’s role, not only during her year of reign but into the future.

The crown’s three largest stones are sugilite (also called luvulite and sold as the stone of love) which are often associated with royalty thanks to their purple colour. These were mined near Hotazel in the Northern Cape.

Other stones used in the crown are amethyst and white quartz crystals.

Says Howard Friedman, designer of the crown and owner of Jack Friedman Jewellers: “We chose the materials used in Enhle to be symbolic of Miss South Africa’s reign.”

The 12 women who are vying to wear Enhle are Elizabeth Molapo (Bloemfontein, Free State); Felicia Muwayi (Nelspruit, Mpumalanga); Luyolo Mngonyama (Umtata, Eastern Cape); Marciel Hopkins (Paarl, Western Cape); Mikaela Oosthuizen (Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape); Ntandoyenkosi Kunene (Mkhondo, Mpumalanga); Reabetswe Sechoaro (Pretoria East, Gauteng); Ronette Chambers (Cape Town, Western Cape); Sarah Botes (Vanderbijlpark, Gauteng); Schané Venter (Alberton, Gauteng); Sharon-Rose Khumalo (Pretoria, Gauteng) and Tayla Skye Robinson (Roodepoort, Gauteng).

The Miss South Africa pageant will be televised on March 19 on M-Net (DStv Channel 101) and Mzansi Magic (DStv Channel 161) from 5-7pm.