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Two of the seven finalists who will be competing for the Miss South Africa crown on Sunday hail from the Eastern Cape.
They are Homba Mazaleni (23) and Melissa Nayimuli (27).
According to the Miss SA 2023 pageant website, Homba (23), from Gonubie, East London, is a qualified sport scientist and student intern at the University of the Western Cape. She pursued Biokinetics to help people recover from injuries and sickness, and it gives her great satisfaction to help them gain the tools they need to pursue their own goals and passions. She also loves to binge-watch a good series.
The other Eastern Cape finalist is Melissa Nayimuli (27) who is from Butterworth. She was born in a multi-cultural home to a Xhosa mother and Ugandan father. She currently works as a television and film creative producer in Johannesburg. Melissa is passionate about finding solutions to unify Africans, break the stereotypes and celebrate diversity, as she believes there is more power and strength in unity.
The other five finalists are Anke Rothmann (23) from the Northern Cape; Bryoni Govender (26) from Gauteng; Jordan van der Vyver (27), from the Western Cape; Nande Mabala (25), from the Western Cape and Natasha Joubert (25) from Gauteng.
The countdown to the see who will take the Miss South Africa 2023 crown continues with the finalists rehearsing ahead of Sunday's live show. The Miss South Africa pageant, which will be broadcast on SABC 3 this Sunday from 18h30, takes place at the SunBet Arena at Time Square, Pretoria and promises to be a spectacular, entertainment-packed show. It will also be live streamed for an international audience on the Miss South Africa app.
For the first time this year, married women and mothers were allowed to enter. Jordan van der Vyver is the only remaining contestant who is married.
This year's finalists were narrowed down through Miss South Africa's five-part reality series, Crown Chasers, aired on SABC 3.
In each episode, the top 11 finalists were placed in real-life scenarios, which included several challenges based on the pageant's four pillars – duty, championship, empowerment and beauty.
At the end of every episode, a panel chose a challenge winner and voted off one of the contestants.
