Eldos: A bevy of beauties at Ms Matric pageant
Courageous young women took to the stage
The weeks of preparation for the much-anticipated Miss Matric event culminated at the KoPosong ChisaNyama Event Centre in Kliptown this past Saturday. The pageant drew an impressive crowd from as far afield as Pretoria as family members came to support contestants.
Twenty-one girls from secondary schools all over Eldorado Park made the final cut and strutted their stuff on the runway while the crowd cheered in support.
Sector Two Community Policing Forum members were out in force to ensure that the event was incident free. The strong security presence deterred any violence from patrons, with no incidents reported at the end of the night.
The judges’ panel consisted of men’s clothing designer, Monsieur Adams, Elreech Marney, entrepreneur and Standard Bank project manager, sales rep and personal stylist Simone Fember. Crowning the list of luminary judges was Desiree Oliphant, former Mrs United Nations and Ntombi, women’s shoe designer and model.
The evening started off with an introduction of the contestants and the schools they represented. First up was Eldomaine, Eldorado Park, and Kliptown Secondary Schools. The entrants strutted their stuff to wild applause followed by a short intermission.
Silver Oaks, Sir John Adamson, and Willow Crescent Secondary Schools competitors graced the floor with well-choreographed dance moves.
This was followed by the swim- and eveningwear modeling section of the competition after which the top eight hopefuls were selected.
MC Meredith Jones exhorted the crowd to appreciate the courage of the young competitors by not booing and doing away with the myth that beauty held a slim, tall shape. This stereotype was a thing of the past which is what this pageant aimed to do away with.
The Miss Promoter and Miss Personality winners were introduced based on votes by fellow contestants to thunderous applause. They were Sumaya Malik and Zanele Mlangeni, who were awarded these titles respectively by their fellow contestants.
After much deliberation from the judges, the first princess from Eldomaine Secondary School was announced as Rose Dlamini. The second princess was announced as Courtney du Plessis from Willow Crescent Secondary School.
After another suspense-filled wait, the Miss Matric 2017 title was bestowed on Zanele Mlangeni for whom this was a double win.
Mlangeni, also from Eldomaine Secondary School, said, “This is a message of encouragement to all young girls out there to keep strong, keep at it and never back down. Let the world see the rest.”
Du Plessis added, “This is something I’ve always wanted to do and it was an enormous opportunity for me.”
Dlamini concluded that “I see this as a victory and a dream come true. I am so proud and I wish my mom was here to share this moment with me.”
Event organiser Netesha Armien said, “The event has met my expectations. We are looking at hosting a Miss Eldos soon, so watch this space.”
WATCH:
Video was taken by Enver Wessels
Stay Informed: For the latest news follow us on
