Miss SA 2022 winner Ndavi Nokeri.
MISS SA organisers have announced that married women can also now enter the pageant, usually reserved for unmarried young women.
The announcement of the widening of the entrance criteria comes while entries are still open for the Miss South Africa 2023 competition as successor to current Miss South Africa Ndavi Nokeri.
Entries for the competition will close this Friday at 11.30am.
The competition will feature two different phases, with the first being a reality competition series titled “Crown Chasers”, and phase two being the Miss SA 2023 final event and crowning.
The seven-part 60-minute series will see the selected contestants housed in the Miss SA headquarters and will have to undertake a series of challenges judged by a selected panel and with the series ending off with the crowning of Miss SA.
The crowned Miss South Africa will then represent South Africa in the 72nd Miss Universe Pageant in El Salvador later this year.
The criteria have been changed to include all women, including trans and regardless of body shape and size, with or without children, and regardless of marital status, into the pageant.
“This year we have pushed more boundaries than ever before and we are delighted to welcome all women who are ready to step on to our leadership platform and be the next ambassador for South Africa,” said CEO Stephanie Weil.
In 2019, Weil Entertainment bought the rights to the Miss South Africa Pageant from Sun International.
“This is a game-changer for South African women, and it’s a bonus for us as an organisation, as it means we have a much larger pool of women eligible to enter.
“The world is finally opening up to the changing beauty standards and understanding that beauty is not a one-size-fits-all. No longer is Miss South Africa just a once-off event but rather a year-round business, and a brand that provides both a leading voice for women’s rights and a platform to effect social change.”
The Miss Universe 2023 pageant will be the first time during its 72-year history that women regardless of marital or parental status will be allowed to enter.
Nokeri lauded the changes to the competition.
“I think the biggest thing with the inclusion of married women and women with children is the fact that they also now get to use this leadership platform to also learn their strengths and to share their strengths but also to be validated.
“It's important that women, whether married or whether they’re mothers, know that they can still be leaders, that they can still open their own doors for themselves and that they do not need to get lost in just motherhood or just in being a wife.”
Those wanting to enter can do so on the Miss SA App (under ENTER NOW page) or visit www.misssa.co.za.
Cape Argus