The road to Miss South Africa 2021 has begun and former titleholders are ready to pick the top 30.
With the entries for Miss SA 2021 closed, the judges will pick the 30 women who will go through to the next round.
The former titleholders Bokang Montjane-Tshabalala (2010), Liesl Laurie (2015), Melinda Bam (2011) and Tamaryn Green (2018) are reviewing entry forms and videos before the reveal on Tuesday, July 6.
Bam, who joined Miss SA’s judging panel for the first time, is looking for someone aware of the social and global issues that face this generation.
“I am also looking for someone direct, yet diplomatic, who can navigate these issues with superior emotional intelligence and can speak to corporate South Africa while also being a familiar and comforting face to our communities,” she explained.
Laurie, from Eldorado Park, south of Joburg, encouraged entrants to be themselves if they wanted to stand out.
She said: “What served me very well, when I entered the Miss South Africa competition, was to be fiercely authentic and to be myself, as cliché as that may sound.
“I knew that I had to shine as Liesl Laurie in 2015.
“There was no way I was going to walk away with the title if I was going to emulate a Rolene Strauss, a Melinda Bam or a Tatum Keshwar or all those women who had come before me.
“I had to remain true to the township young girl I was and embrace that, knowing that this was my star power and star quality.
“I was the true definition of a Cinderella story, and I proudly owned it.”
The chief executive of the Miss South Africa Organisation, Stephanie Weil, is confident in the judging panel she chose.
“Who better to pick the Top 30 than former titleholders who have walked in the shoes of this year’s entrants and who will be able to bring out the best in each candidate while giving pertinent advice.
“They know what qualities a potential Miss South Africa needs to possess to represent this country on international stages," she said.
Shudufadzo Musida won Miss SA 2020.