Bam! It's time to say adios to Melinda and hello to a new Miss South Africa. The 2012 Miss South Africa pageant's coming up at Sun City this Sunday (9 December) with a line-up of 12 leggy hopefuls in the cat-fight for the crown.
The process they've been through to be selected has been airing on Sundays in the reality show The Road To Miss SA - on Mzansi Magic. The ceremony will be airing live on the channel on Sunday, with coverage starting from 16h30.
The broadcast starts with a finale episode of The Road to Miss SA at 16h30 and the ceremony itself starts at 17h30 and runs an hour and a half. There's no red carpet coverage.
The hosts this year are Jo-Ann Strauss (who was Miss SA in 2000), Channel O presenter and Rhythm Cityzen Lungsta Radu and All Access presenter Bridget Masinga.
The evening's going to feature three main competitive struts: cocktail dresses, evening gowns and swimwear.
Fash. fundi's JJ Schoeman and Gideon have designed the cocktail and evening gowns respectively and Dax Martin has designed the swimwear in a scoop for dudes. Word from Dax is that he's designed the cozzies to be sexy instead of sporty.
Musos who'll be performing in between the runways include the Bala Brothers, Jacques Terre'Blanche (I can't believe he's still around), Zakes Bantwini and
Toya Delazy.
TVSA's
Carino and
Toodecent will be at Sun City for us again this year, gathering the insider news, pics and after party goss so keep a lookout for the sc-ooh-p.
Here's a close-up on each finalist:
Charlotte Smith
Age: 25
From: Kempton Park, Johannesburg
Occupation: Student and business woman
More about her: Charlotte attended Holy Rosary School, in Edenvale, until she matriculated in 2005. She then went on to do her BA Communication Science degree and is currently studying towards her BA Honours degree in Media Studies.
Charlotte owns a modeling, confidence and deportment academy where she is passionate about encouraging and assisting young women to dream big, work hard and realize their abilities.
She describes herself as "creative" - one of her more unusual hobbies is beading dresses and garments.
Charlotte was Miss Teen World in 2005 and Miss Million Dollar in 2010. As a potential Miss South Africa she would like to focus on encouraging entrepreneurship within the country.
Charne King
Age: 23
From: Cape Town
Occupation: Model
More about her: Charne works full time as a model and dreams of fulfilling a business career in the health and beauty industry. She has a film and media degree from the University of Cape Town but plans to further her tertiary education in entrepreneurship and business.
She has also just graduated from a year of studies at Every Nation Bible School. When she is not getting her hair and make-up done for the cameras, she is with family and friends, enjoying quality time. She's very active and enjoys hiking, Maui Thai and bike rides up the mountain to relaxing indoors.
Cindy Rosslind
Age: 22
From: Cape Town
Occupation: Masters student in Psychology
More about her: Cindy is classically vocally trained and is interested in the performing arts. After matriculating in 2007, she obtained her Psychology Degree from the University of Cape Town.
She went on to complete her Honours Degree in 2011. She is currently doing her Masters in Psychology with a particular focus on emotional intelligence and works as an intern at a psychology practice.
She believes in the importance of psychological well-being and is confident that she has the intelligence and character to serve as an inspiration to the youth of South Africa.
Should she win the title she plans to pursue programmes that encourage mental wellness among young people.
Danelle de Wet
Age: Almost 20
From: Cape Town
Occupation: Science student
More about her: Danelle is currently studying towards a Science degree (BSc) in Medical Biosciences at The University of the Western Cape. She matriculated in 2010 from Rhenish Girls' High School in Stellenbosch. This is where her passion and drive to help and serve people in struggling communities began.
Besides studying, Danelle is a full-time model in Cape Town and would one day like to obtain her helicopter license to enable her to volunteer to fight wildfires. In her free time Danelle trains in Muaythai, runs half marathons and does Pilates.
The motto she lives by: “...and in the end, it's not the amount of years of life you've lived that count. It's the amount of life in those years.” - Abraham Lincoln.
Dhesha Jeram
Age: 25
From: Cape Town
Occupation: Model and entrepeneur
More about her: Dhesha has a love for fashion and media and forms part of a self-published Fashion magazine called ANA. Dhesha was born in Durban and is a BCom graduate who is driven by the empowerment and upliftment of women in society.
She strives to motivate young girls to acknowledge and seek out their inner greatness and to develop independence in order to live as equals in today's society.
Standing at 1.77m tall, Dhesha has been working as a model since the age of 19 and was crowned Miss South Africa 1st Princess in 2010. She also competed internationally at the Miss Supranational pageant held in Poland in 2011 where she placed 8th overall. She was voted as Africa's Sexiest Women by Global Beauties for the year 2011.
Koketso Modiba
Age: 25
Occupation: Law student
From: Johannesburg
More about her: Koketso is the first born in a family of four with multicultural roots in Pedi, Zulu, Tswana and Tsonga.
She is 1.75 meters tall. She works with an NGO for a positive influence in professional development for South Africans and is currently studying towards a Law degree.
In her spare time she loves travelling and meeting new people.
Marilyn Ramos
Age: 21
From: Klerksdorp, North West
Occupation: Student of Interior Architecture
More about her: Marilyn is a proudly small town girl from Klerksdorp, North West where she matriculated in 2009.
She currently lives in Pretoria where she's studying Interior Architecture at Inscape Design College. Her passion for health and fitness has encouraged her to complete her qualification in personal fitness training through the Institute of Fitness Professional.
She describes herself as a child of Christ and strives to be a beacon of hope. Her titles include Miss Valley of the Waves, Miss Rivonia, Model of the World and Miss Europe Jnr.
Natasha Kashimoto
Age: 21
From: Benoni, Johannesburg
Occupation: Model and business woman
More about her: As a model Natasha has appeared in advertising campaigns for brands including Clearasil, Samsung and South African Airways and has been the face of Sofn'Free since 2009.
This is the second time she's been a Miss SA finalist: she was in the Top 12 in 2010 too.
She has a Human Resources Management diploma and aims to obtain her B/com degree in Economics.
Natasha matriculated in 2006 at Delpark Learning academy and obtained an exemption through UNISA.
She's 1.75 metres tall and is signed with Heads Modelling agency in Johannesburg. She runs her own business and plans to establish a career domestically and abroad. She sees the Miss South Africa title as the ideal platform to fulfill her passion in women empowerment and youth issues.
Pearl Nxele
Age: 24
From: Mandini, Kwa-Zulu Natal
Occupation: Marketing Management
More about her: Pearl is an International Marketing Management graduate and has also obtained a Project Management diploma. She is also currently registered for a Bachelor of Philosophy Honours in Marketing and aspires to study further in the future.
Pearl has garnered a number of achievements, mainly sports related in her high school days. Her proudest moment was when she was awarded
"The Friendliest Person in School" award - also at high school - with a 94% majority vote.
She believes that she should be Miss South Africa 2012 because of her people skills, her disciplined character and her national pride which in turn will make her a relevant role model to the youth of South Africa. Pearl believes she can represent her country on an international scale.
Simone de Kock
Age: 21
From: Cape Town
Occupation: Model and entrepeneur
More about her: Simone's love of socializing and organizing inspired her to pursue a career in the events Industry and after 2 years in the industry she started her own promotion and events company which she currently runs. She's also a full- time model.
Simone loves helping others, has a passion to inspire the youth and strives to be the best ambassador she can be.
Stacey Webb
Age: 23
From: Cape Town
Occupation: Lawyer
More about her: Stacey's most prized achievement is her Law degree which she received from the University of Stellenbosch. She would love to specialize in family law to protect and promote the rights of vulnerable families, particularly women and children.
Health and fitness are very important to her and she has been playing netball for the past 11 years. Being 1.8 meters tall has allowed her to play provincial netball for 7 consecutive years. She believes that she has what it takes to be a well-rounded and humble role-model for the youth of South Africa.
Tarryn Kim Cornelius
22
From: Cape Town
Occupation: Model
More about her: Tarryn currently models for Ice Model management and has numerous titles under her belt. She has done several advertisements for both television and magazines and is used to working long, hard hours. She is passionate about South Africa's youth and especially likes dealing with children who have self-esteem issues.
Tarryn is an extrovert who loves meeting new people and believes in ploughing back into her community. She often helps with local school events and is an animal lover who owns several dogs. She intends doing business studies in the near future.