She, is the new Africa; in other words She is Africa. Who is she? She is the Queen of Africa; the queen with substances. She is black, she is white, coloured, Indian. She is big and slim. She dons colourful attires weaving exciting African fabrics in different colours of Africa presenting a fresher narrative of Africa. She is a South African, a Nambian, a Kenyan. She is from Mozambique and Zimbabwe. She is Mrs. Africa. She is Ms. Africa.
The above introduction is the total sum of the Mrs Africa international pageant grand finale 2017 where the now reigning Mrs Africa 2017 and Ms. Africa 2017 were both crowned along with 38 other married and unmarried African women from five African countries at the Protea Hotel, near OR Tambo international airport, Johannesburg.
SHE IS
THE NEW AFRICA!!
‘ MRS AFRICA- A PAGEANT WITH A BIG HEART’
By Ifedayo Oshin
Mrs Africa is a pageant for married African woman. The pageant has been running for the past 10 years. The Ms. Africa division caters for unmarried African women above the age of 26. Started in 2006, the CEO of the pageant, Mrs Carolyn Botha explained that the pageant is“ the type that touches the heart, and the titles are those with substance with the intention of nurturing and shaping African women who are the mothers of the continent’ s future.” Unlike other pageants, most of the contestants were winners at the night. Many of the ladies won special awards such as Most Sexy legs, Best Interview, Best cultural attire and best social media. They also received crowns for different titles. However, as Mrs. Botha explained“ the lady with the highest scores overall gets crowned Mrs Africa. She could also get one of the other titles where we will be sending them to participate in other international competitions happening around the world; globe, international, universal, continental, hemisphere.” According to the CEO, the reason was that instead of having top 10, specific lady, wins a specific title that allows her to participate in a specific international competition which best suits them.
Mrs Africa is not just about figures or beauty,‘ it is what’ s in the heart,”.“ We don’ t just do pageant, we do people and charities”, boasted Mrs. Botha. The pageant manager surely deserves the boasting right having raised R392, 812 through the charitable works of the 40 contestants of Mrs Africa on the platform of Mrs Africa Foundation. To achieve this, the contestants have had to get involved in the Dignity Dreams – a project that provides washable and reusable sanitary towels for girls.
AFROLECTIONS MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2017 5