Newly crowned Miss South Africa Natasha Joubert is no stranger to the pageant stage; this being her second time trying to clinch the crown.
The Miss SA 2020 runner-up stunned the country by walking away with the newly designed Mowana 'Tree of Life' crown at Sun Bet, Times Square Arena, Pretoria.
Joubert, a firm believer in second chances, which she highlighted in her mission statement, was a strong contender for the crown.
Her name trended on Twitter, with many expressing their hopes for her to clinch the title this year.
Joubert reigned supreme, topping the competition - Anke Rothmann, Homba Mazaleni, Nande Mabala, Bryoni Govender, Melissa Nayimuli and Jordan van der Vyver.
She dazzled the judges, consisting of Thuso Mbedu, reigning Miss Universe R’Bonney Nola, Jo-Ann Strauss, Devi Sankaree-Govender and Leandie Du Randt.
She went head-to-head with Mabala and Govender as the top three finalists, clinching the crown from Govender.
While she may have won the judges over, the critics are still divided over her win, despite her winning three challenges on ‘Crown Chasers’.
Introducing #MissSA2023...
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Congratulations #NATASHA 👑@IOL pic.twitter.com/2gcUekot1T
Joubert also represented the country at the Miss Universe pageant in 2021, giving naysayers more ammunition about her return to the Miss SA stage. However, for Joubert the goal has always wear the Miss SA crown.
Joubert acknowledged that seeing the negative comments around her comeback was “disheartening to see how your hard work is being invalidated”.
“If you put yourself in my shoes, three years ago. It was set in stone from the beginning that there would be three international representatives. To me the goal was always to represent South Africa and that’s exactly what I did in my circumstances.
When it comes to competitions there will always be divided opinions about the winner #MissSouthAfrica2023 @natashajoub @IOL pic.twitter.com/nNu8JsQnTm
— IOL Lifestyle (@IOL_Lifestyle) August 14, 2023
“I went there and gave it my all. I think if I knew the reciprocations, I would have maybe said ‘you know what I’m looking to come back at Miss South Africa, so if that would deny me or not allow me, maybe my choice would have been different.”
At the moment it is still unclear whether Joubert will represent South Africa on any of the international pageant stages.
When asked about it, she shied away from answering and deviated by saying her focus currently is Miss South Africa.