Miss Teen SA making her way to Miss Teen Continents

The new Miss Teen South Africa, Marlize Mans, will be representing South Africa at the Miss Teen Continents competition in July 2020.

After being scouted by Figures Roodepoort Modelling in 2016, Marlize found her passion and love for modelling, and later moved to Vogue West Rand Modelling. “I had followed some beauty queens but never saw myself doing the same thing. I had crooked teeth and had to wait for the braces to be removed. I decided to give it a go and when I won my first competition, I knew that it was something I would like to pursue,” she explained.

Throughout her years of modelling, she has been taught to accept every win or loss in a graceful manner, and said, “I had to learn how to be happy for somebody else winning a pageant and that it meant working harder next time.”

During her couple of years of modelling, Marlize has worked her way to the top as she won the Miss Pre Teen International title in 2017, Miss CANSA Northern Gauteng in 2018, and was crowned as the Senior Overall Winner. This year she won Miss Queen of Iceland Senior Overall once again, and in October she was crowned as Miss Teen SA 2020.

Her decision to compete for the Miss Teen SA title was influenced by the love and care she has for the community and world. “I wanted to take part in order to make a difference in somebody’s life. Even if you just touch the life of one person, you have succeeded. To see the difference one can make with just a small gesture is what motivates me on a daily basis. I want to show other girls that every one of them can be the best they can be by believing in themselves. I am working on launching some videos in which I want to show girls simple dressing, make-up and hair tips. This will launch soon on the Miss Pre Teen International and Miss Teen Pageant South Africa Facebook page,” she stated.

Her message to other girls out there wanting to pursue a career in modelling is simple. “Eat the last doughnut! Not everybody is meant to be a model. We need doctors, lawyers, teachers and stay-at-home mothers as well. To be a model is difficult, as your career is limited to your twenties mostly. Find what you are best at and cultivate that.”

She added that, “It is a huge responsibility to represent yourself in such a manner that other girls can look up to you. They must want to follow in your footsteps. There cannot be a bigger compliment for any girl than somebody wanting to be just like you. You also have a responsibility towards your sponsors and the charities that you work for to deliver the goods. This can obviously not be done without the help of your supporters and the public”.

As Miss Teen SA, her goal and main focus for the year will be to inspire girls to stay in school. “By encouraging this, I am hoping to help break the cycle of teenage pregnancies,” she said. She will also be focusing on helping animals, by trying to find loving homes for homeless animals.

But this is not the end of her journey, as she will be making her way to Las Vegas in July 2020 to represent South Africa at the Miss Teen Continents competition and compete for the title of Miss Teen Continent. During this competition, she will be judged in the categories of swimwear, national costume, interview and evening dress.

Travelling overseas is very expensive. Marlize explained, “Sponsors are not as readily available in the beauty pageant industry as they are for sporting events. This is very sad, because I will also be representing my country. It is already very expensive to make all the outfits and do the hair and nails. My parents work very hard to pay all the bills but the fuel bills and classes do consume a huge amount of money. I am working on a few plans to raise some of the money, but I am going to need help. If there is anybody willing to sponsor either money, outfits or services, they can contact us on smans3086@mail.com. We are able to promote their businesses on social media and we will give credit on the Miss Teen Facebook page as well”.