By Sitha Maliwa:
South Africa’s beauty queen turned pageant powerhouse now controls the nation’s path to the world’s three biggest crowns
A seismic shift has swept through South African pageantry.
In a move that is set to redefine the country’s pursuit of international beauty glory, former Miss South Africa and Miss World Africa titleholder Bokang Montjane-Tshabalala has completed what many in the industry are calling an unprecedented pageant power play.
Montjane-Tshabalala now holds the South African franchise rights to Miss World, adding the historic competition to her existing stewardship of Miss Universe and Miss Supranational.
The achievement places her at the helm of the country’s entire Big Three pageant ecosystem and makes her arguably the most influential figure in South African beauty pageantry today.
It is a remarkable journey for a woman who once stood beneath the dazzling stage lights as a contestant herself.
Now she owns the road to those stages.
Through her company, African Beauty International, Montjane-Tshabalala has built an empire that stretches from Johannesburg to Puerto Rico, from Poland to Vietnam, placing South Africa’s international pageant ambitions under a single banner for the first time in modern history.
And she is making no secret of her intentions.
“I have walked those stages,” she says. “I have stood under those lights as a competitor, felt what it means to carry the South African flag into those arenas, and I know – deeply and personally – what is at stake when a young woman steps out to represent this country.”
Those words carry weight.
Few people understand the demands of global pageantry better than Montjane-Tshabalala. Crowned Miss South Africa in 2010, she went on to represent the nation at both Miss Universe and Miss World before earning the prestigious Miss World Africa title in 2011.
Today, she has transformed that experience into influence.
The timing could hardly be more significant.
South Africa enters a crucial chapter in its pageant history with all three international competitions looming on the global calendar. Miss Supranational takes place in Poland in July, Miss World heads to Vietnam in September, and the glittering 75th anniversary edition of Miss Universe unfolds in Puerto Rico in November.
For a nation with a proud record of producing world-class queens, expectations are high.
The country celebrated a historic victory when Lalela Mswane became the first South African and first Black woman to capture the Miss Supranational crown in 2022.
Before that came the triumphs of Demi-Leigh Tebow, formerly Nel-Peters, and Zozibini Tunzi, whose reign became one of the longest in Miss Universe history due to the global pandemic.
And who could forget Rolene Strauss, whose victory remains one of the country’s proudest pageant achievements?
Yet the trophies have become harder to come by.
The drought, according to Montjane-Tshabalala, has lasted long enough.
“Four years is too long. Twelve years is too long,” she says. “My job is to make sure that the next time the world is looking for its next queen, they are looking at a South African.”
Those are fighting words in an industry built on glamour, preparation and fierce international competition.
But perhaps what makes this moment so compelling is that it represents more than a business acquisition.
It represents consolidation.
For years, South Africa’s participation in the world’s major pageants has operated through separate structures and leadership teams. Now, for the first time, one vision, one strategy and one leadership philosophy will shape the women chosen to carry the country’s hopes onto the world’s biggest stages.
From scouting talent to training contestants, from wardrobe preparation to international branding, every aspect of the journey can now be aligned.
The result could be a more formidable South African challenge than ever before.
“What I bring to the international pageant stage is accountability,” Montjane-Tshabalala says. “Accountability to South African women who deserve to be prepared at the highest level.”
That accountability now extends across three continents and three global crowns.
As pageant fans count down to Poland, Vietnam and Puerto Rico, a new narrative is taking shape.
South Africa is no longer simply entering competitions.
It is preparing for a coordinated assault on the world’s biggest titles.
And at the centre of that campaign stands a woman who once dreamed of wearing a crown and now commands the machinery that produces queens.
The question is no longer whether South Africa belongs among the world’s pageant elite. The question is whether the rest of the world is ready for what comes next.- @NewsSA_Online
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