Walking through the doors of the conference room at The Maslow Hotel in Pretoria after her win, the newly crowned Miss SA 2023 gave us the walk that earned her the prestigious title.
Her smile wide as she made her way to the front of the room where a stage was prepared for a question-and-answer session.
Sitting next to CEO of the Miss SA organisation, Stephanie Weil, Natasha Joubert beamed with joy as she acknowledged how long the journey has been for her to get to be Miss SA.
“This started three years ago when I entered Miss South Africa for the first time, and I went to Miss Universe back in 2021. Yoh, if I just [reflect] back [to] where I was two years ago mentally and where I am now and how hard I worked in order to come back. It’s a surreal feeling but I also feel like I couldn’t have done it without South Africa.”
The 26-year-old was the second runner-up in 2020, the year that Shudufhadzo Musida became queen after Zozibini Tunzi’s long reign. She then went on to represent the country in the Miss Universe pageantry, following in Zozi’s footsteps.
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Looking into the crowd in the room, she adds that “You guys have lifted me during the Miss Universe disappointment in a way I can’t express and that’s a big reason why I came back to Miss South Africa.”
After Miss Universe where she didn’t make it into the top 21, she started seeing a psychologist in an effort to transform her fear of being vulnerable into a strength so she can better connect and relate with South Africans.
“By showing up on that stage tonight, I really showed what second chances, perseverance and resilience truly looks like. [When I didn’t make the cut] it felt like failure, so many people witnessed that and to afterwards deal with all the emotional struggles that came with it, I think it’s such a like true inspiration that it’s all about second chances in life. If that message was spread across [the country], then I’m content.”
As she kept her smile wide, one of the audience members asked if that was her real smile and she laughed saying, “This is my smile, but I won’t lie, my cheeks hurt now.”
Natasha shares that she had wanted to come back to the national beauty pageantry earlier but because of the rules, she couldn’t. With this year’s change of rules which also opened the door for married women and mothers to enter the competition, she was able to take another leap of faith into the pageant.
She tells Drum that this time around, the experience felt completely different compared to the last time and she is glad to have gone for it again.
Reflecting back on her childhood, she says her resilience comes from seeing her family lose their home at one point, dealing with her father’s passing when she was 16 and having to learn to be independent at an early age.
“The circumstances weren’t always ideal. That resilience was built at a really young age, almost no taking no for an answer. If they say I can’t study, I’ll show you that I’ll study. If they say I can’t drive myself to school, I will win that scooter in a modeling competition to drive myself to school so it’s practice of the small things in one’s everyday life.”
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Being the first beauty queen to wear the new Mowana crown specially designed by Nungu Diamonds, Natasha brings humor in the room as she comments on how perfect it fits her and since the crown represents the tree of life, she hopes that she will be the country’s sunrise every single morning.
This year, she says her main focus will be education, building on top of former Miss SA Ndavi Nokeri’s legacy so there’s already plans of action in place.
As part of her prize, the BCom graduate received R1 million in cash, a sponsorship package that includes the use of a serviced apartment at the lavish Brookfield at Royal in Kensington – developed by Tricolt – for the year of her reign. She also gets to drive a Mercedes-Benz GLC as well as go on a trip to Paris sponsored by L’Oreal.
