Mr Gay World Southern Africa saw 22-year-old Juan Pinnick from Bloemfontein crowned winner in a glittering event held at the Atterbury Theatre in Pretoria.
Pinnick was one of 12 contestants from across the country competing for first place.
“I am extremely excited and humbled at the opportunity. I feel I deserve it because I worked really hard,” he said.
Pinnick walked away with sponsored prizes to the value of R30 000 and will also represent South Africa in the Mr Gay World competition.
The competition took place over a week, where participants had to attend workshops, do writing and interview challenges, run an online social media campaign and finally model designer outfits and swimwear.
Pinnick said it was a “gruelling” week.
“The hardest part was maintaining your poise while your body was physically tired.
“But I have wanted to enter this competition since I was in Grade 10, I was determined,” he said.
He said he was very passionate about the LGBTQ community and currently ran three projects to make a difference.
One is raising funds to help a crèche in Bloemfontein get a jungle gym and stationery packs.
“I am also running a crowdfunding campaign to help a transgender female raise
R200 000 for reconsignment surgery,” he said.
Pinnick said he also runs an online support group every Thursday on mobig.co.za where members from the LGBTQ community can post any problems they are dealing with and seek advice anonymously.
“I feel that we have so many people from the community in high paces but we don’t support each other enough.
“If we stand together we will be a force to be reckoned with.
“I plan on working with my fellow princes to do more to bring our community together,” said Pinnick.
Event spokesperson Hendrik Baird said he was very proud of all the contestants.
“It was very challenging for them to work their way through all the challenges set out for them. There was a radio interview, sports challenge, written tests, working on their campaign - it not just a beauty pageant.
“We wanted people who are intelligent and already work in their community. Furthermore they must have the desire to do something and make difference in the LGBTQ community,” Baird said.
He said the competition was important because it brought “visibility” to an otherwise “hidden away” community.
“We need people to become activists within the community and use the visibility to give back and do the work required,” he said.
Second runner-up was Thaio Lekhanye, and Karabo Morake was crowned as first runner-up.