Why South Africa will not compete in Miss Universe 2025

This year, the Miss SA organisation has implemented quite a lot of changes within the pageant, including the recent decision not to participate in the prestigious Miss Universe competition.

On Tuesday, September 30, the organisation shared during the media briefing introducing the new co-chairs, Basetsana Kumalo and Peggy-Sue Khumalo, that Mia le Roux’s successor will not be participating in Miss Universe.

Here’s why SA will not participate in Miss Universe in 2025: 

The organisation’s representative shared that due to the lack of time and preparation, it would be unfair to send the incoming queen to Thailand next month.

“This year, Miss SA will not be competing at Miss Universe due to the timing. A Miss SA (representative) requires up to three months of planning to go abroad and to represent South Africa. Miss Universe is directly after Miss SA, as you have seen the dates.

“On behalf of the organisation, it would not be fair on our Miss SA to not get fully prepped for that international competition,” they revealed.

This year, the organisation further revealed that due to the company being under new leadership, the Motsepe company marks a new era of doing things.

The usual date for the Miss SA finale would be around August; however, it was announced that they have pushed back the date to October to prepare for the finale and mark a new era.

In 2024, Le Roux was sent to compete in Miss Universe; however, due to health complications, she had to pull out of the competition just a few hours before the finale.

This is the first time in history that SA will not be competing at Miss Universe.

Despite the constant disappointment from Miss SA, we have had a good run of beauty queens who have raised the SA flag so high and made their mark.

Here’s a look at beauty queens who conquered the world stage and took home crowns:

Zozibini Tunzi

Tunzi won the hearts of many during her journey to becoming a Miss Universe. She became the first-ever beauty queen to grace the stages of beauty pageants with her short, revolutionising the beauty of these pageants.

She showed people that you can still be beautiful with your natural hair and fully embraced the look.

She opened doors for so many beauty queens after her and gave them the confidence to strut the stage with or without hair. Shudufhadzo Musida became the second beauty queen with no hair to be crowned Miss SA in 2020, a few years after Tunzi’s reign.

Margaret Gardiner 

Gardiner made history as the first-ever crowned Miss Universe from SA in 1978. Gardiner was only 18 years old when she competed with the rest of the world and managed to take home the crown.

Demi-Leigh Tebow

In 2017, Tebow also made our nation proud as she went to compete at Miss Universe and took home the crown. She further made history as the second beauty queen from SA to hold the title.