Phomolo Tjie, a beauty queen from Limpopo, has been crowned Miss International South Africa for this year. She will soon travel to Tokyo, Japan, to represent South Africa in the world beauty pageant. Tjie was crowned in Rosebank over the weekend and received R200 000 and other prizes as part of her winnings.
The 24-year-old expressed excitement at the prospect of representing her country on a global stage and said that winning the crown would allow her to develop innovative strategies in entrepreneurship, education, and social projects aimed at addressing poverty, disease, and other societal issues.
Miss International South Africa is a pageant that seeks to empower young women by providing them with a platform to showcase their talents and represent their country on a global level. However, this year’s pageant faced some challenges when its founder and former Miss SA Teen, Katlego Ncala, took businessman Tony De Sousa to court over the alleged replication of her pageant concept.
Ncala filed an urgent application and was granted a trial date to fight for her pageant concept, which she claims De Sousa is attempting to hijack. According to court documents seen by Sunday World, Ncala accused De Sousa of being dishonourable by terminating her as a license rights holder and creating his own rival pageant. The case is still pending in the high court.