By: Lolo Mhlanga
The glitz and glamour of the Miss South Africa 2021 beauty pageant concluded on Saturday night with 24-year-old Lalela Mswane scooping the crown.
Mswane from KwaZulu-Natal was crowned at the glittering finale held at Grand Arena, GrandWest in Cape Town. The 24-year-old from KwaSokhulu in Richards Bay graduated with a Bachelor of Law from the University of Pretoria. She is also a model and a dancer.
She received R1 million in cash as well as a further R3 million worth of sponsorships and prizes, including the use of a fully furnished and serviced apartment at the luxurious Central Square Sandton, with fabulous interior décor by Vursa, and a Mercedes Benz C-Class Sedan for the year of her reign.
The two runners-up were Moratwe Masima, a qualified doctor from Midrand in Gauteng, and BCom Law degree student Zimi Mabunzi from eQonce (King William’s Town) Eastern Cape. Both received R175 000.
Mswane said in her rein, she wants to tackle unemployment in the country.
“During the journey towards this title, I made unemployment the cornerstone of all the causes I care for because it not only affects our youth but is the source of many of the social ills so prevalent in South Africa. It is now my duty as Miss South Africa to ensure that I start the conversation about unemployment amongst our youth and seek meaningful solutions which will have long-lasting effects towards its rebate,” she said.
Mswane said her campaign aims to offer support to young people to assist them in creating their own employment opportunities through entrepreneurial skills and, in doing so, empower them to be self-sufficient and secure their own economic futures.
She said she neithe
r took the magnitude of the task lightly nor for granted because she knew unemployment was a complex issue. Still, action towards its reduction was necessary today more than ever.
“Let us get ready to create and build healthy and sustainable entrepreneurial opportunities, take ownership of and shape our futures. There’s never been a better time to do so,” Mswane said.
To South Africans, she said she wants to encourage, inspire, give hope, and continue to work and build onto the legacies of Miss South Africa’s past.
She said she intends to live by every word she expressed and to serve, lead and represent the nation to the best of her abilities.
The Top 3 will represent South Africa at the world’s three most prestigious pageants – Miss World, Miss Universe, and Miss Supranational. The person going to which competition will be revealed in coming days as the Miss South Africa Organisation decides which candidate would do the best at which pageant.
