This weekend’s Miss World pageant in Mumbai, India will see 112 contestants from around the globe compete for the coveted title.

 

Claude Mashego will represent South Africa at the pageant which is scheduled to be held at the Jio World Convention Centre on Saturday, 9 March.

Poland’s Karolina Bielawska is the reigning Miss World.

Mashego, who hails from Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga, was crowned the winner at the first Miss World South Africa pageant in late October last year.

The 24-year-old doctor will face stiff competition from 111 other entrants in her quest to become only the fourth South African to ever be crowned Miss World.

This year’s edition will mark the debut of Togo, and the returns of Australia, Bangladesh, Croatia, Denmark, Ethiopia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Martinique, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, New Zealand, Romania, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Thailand, and Zimbabwe.

Morocco last competed in 1968, Liberia last competed in 2017, Germany, Lebanon, Lesotho, Martinique and Zimbabwe all last competed in 2018, while the others last competed in 2019.

DID YOU KNOW

Miss South Africa (or a runner-up in some instances) has always competed at Miss World, dating back to the first-ever pageant in 1956 when Norma Vorster represented Mzansi?

The three Miss South Africa’s to have gone on to be crowned Miss World are:

Penelope Coelen – 1958

Anneline Kriel – 1974

Rolene Strauss – 2014

The South African website wishes Claude Mashego the best of luck at the 2023 Miss World pageant.