# Miss Grand South Africa

Miss Grand South Africa is an annual female beauty pageant in South Africa founded in 2015 by Commonwealth Pageant South Africa, led by Anel de Swardt, aiming to select the country representative to compete in its parent contest Miss Grand International. The license was transferred to Zee World in 2016, and later to Maggy-Dee Productions, led by Miss Grand South Africa 2015 "Lenie Pieterse" who currently owns and runs the contest since 2017.
South Africa got placements at Miss Grand International twice including top 20 finalists by "Belinde Schreuder" in 2019 and the fourth runner-up by "Jeanè Van Dam" in 2021.

## History

South Africa made its debutant at Miss Grand International in 2015 by Magdalena Lenie Pieterse, who had been serving as the director of the Miss Grand South Africa beauty contest since 2017. After winning the 2015 title at the parallel contest of the Commonwealth Pageant South Africa, Miss & Mrs. Grand South Africa 2015–16, held in the Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City amusement park of Johannesburg on 17 September 2015, Pieterse entered the Miss Grand International 2015 world final round in Bangkok, Thailand, then became the director of the national preliminary contest for such an international pageant two years later.
In 2016, An English-Bollywood TV channel in Johannesburg, Zee World, obtained one year license for the Miss Grand International 2016, the national contest was held on 6 August 2016 at Atterbury Theatre in Pretoria featuring 6 national finalists, in which Caitlin Harty, a professional model based in Johannesburg, was announced as the titleholder. However, Zee World lost the license to Magdalena Pieterse in the following year. Under the direction of Pieterse, her first affiliated titleholder, Yajna Debideen, was appointed to the position instead of conducting the national contest. Debideen was the first runner-up Miss Supranational South Africa 2017.
In the following year, the organizer company, Maggy-Dee Productions, was founded by Pieterse, and became responsible for managing the national contest. The first pageant under the direction of such an organ took place on 4 August 2018 at Atterbury Theatre in Pretoria, and the contest has been held annually since then. South Africa got placements twice at the Miss Grand International contest, including Top 20 finalists by Belinde Schreuder in 2019 and the fourth runner-up by Jeanè Van Dam in 2021.
Since acquiring the license, the Miss Grand South Africa pageant, under the direction of Lenie Pieterse, has been aiming to empower women with the knowledge to bring about changes to communities in need by becoming a charity and cultural ambassador within South Africa. Several national finalists are currently working with the local non-profit organizations (NGOs) or providing the necessities support for those organs. For instance, the 2021 finalist, Storm Hurlbatt, an established financial advisor, who created the MakeNoise360 campaign to change the culture of violence and injustice in society. as well as Genive Trimble, the other 2021 finalist, who is affiliated with the Humanitarian Empowerment Fund, the organization that was founded to holistically change and empower communities, families, and industries through helping with food supply, security, education, and rehabilitation.

## Editions
### Date and venue

Miss Grand South Africa Editions :
| Year | Edition | Date | Venue | Host province | Entrants | Ref. |
| 2015 | 1th | 11 September | Lyric Theatre of Gold Reef City amusement park, Johannesburg | Gauteng | 8 | |
| 2016 | 2nd | 6 August | Atterbury Theatre, Pretoria | Gauteng | 6 | |
| 2018 | 3rd | 4 August | Atterbury Theatre, Pretoria | Gauteng | 14 | |
| 2019 | 4th | 25 May | Atterbury Theatre, Pretoria | Gauteng | 10 | |
| 2020 | 5th | 30 August | The event was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | The event was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | 14 | |
| 2021 | 6th | 14 August | Atterbury Theatre, Pretoria | Gauteng | 26 | |
| 2022 | 7th | 9 July | Lake Umuzi Waterfront Hotel, Secunda | Mpumalanga | 38 | |
| 2023 | 8th | 22 July | Atterbury Theatre, Pretoria | Gauteng | 25 | |
| 2024 | 9th | 1 June | Theatre of Marcellus, Emperors Palace, Johannesburg | Gauteng | 28 | $^{:4}$ |
| 2025 | 10th | 28 June | Theatre of Marcellus, Emperors Palace, Johannesburg | Gauteng | 35 | $^{:5}$ |

### Competition result

| Year | Miss Grand South Africa | Runners-up | Runners-up | Runners-up | Runners-up | Ref. |
| Year | Miss Grand South Africa | 1st runner-up | 2nd runner-up | 3rd runner-up | 4th runner-up | Ref. |
| 2015 | Magdalena Pieterse | Danielle Leach | Rina van Schalkwyk | Not awarded | Not awarded | |
| 2016 | Caitlin Harty | Precious Khoza | Thando Tsiane | Not awarded | Not awarded | |
| 2018 | Misha Christie | Natasché Daniels | Refentse Fensi Molehe | Nedien Andrews | Rhulani Mathevula | |
| 2019 | Belinde Schreuder | Jeané Van Dam | Phomolo Bianca Tjie | Beauron Julies | Shaleen de Witt | |
| 2020 | Anronet Roelofsz | Nompumelelo Malindi | Sthabile Mnyandu | Not awarded | Not awarded | |
| 2021 | Jeanè Van Dam | Lu Juan Mzyk | Danielle Van Zyl | Genive Trimble | Jordan Van Rensburg | |
| 2022 | Lu Juan Mzyk | Bianca Ramalho | Sphilangomusa Khwezi Msweli | Anita Meyer | Sharné Dheochand | |
| 2023 | Gugulethu Mayisela | Thulani Ndzotyana | Joey Roman | Robyn Hill | Monique Best | |
| 2024 | Sharné Dheochand | Karabo Lawal | Suhané Bosch | Sinamile Dlamini | Lesego Nyathela | |
| Notes 1. ^α Currently, the national director of Miss Grand South Africa. 2. ^γ Previously World Super Model 2017, Miss Supranational South Africa 2018, and Miss Intercontinental South Africa 2018. |||||||

### Winner gallery

* Miss Grand South Africa 2024 Sharné Dheochand
* Miss Grand South Africa 2023 Gugulethu Mayisela
* Miss Grand South Africa 2022 Lu Juan Mzyk
* Miss Grand South Africa 2021 Jeanè Van Dam
* Miss Grand South Africa 2015 Lenie Pieterse

## International competition

The following list shows South Africa's representatives at the Miss Grand International pageant.
| Year | Representative | Original national title | Competition performance | Competition performance | National director | Ref. |
| Year | Representative | Original national title | Placement | Special award(s) | National director | Ref. |
| 2014 | Ane Reynolds | Appointed | Did not compete | Did not compete | Invited | |
| 2015 | Magdalena Pieterse | Miss Grand South Africa 2015 | Unplaced | — | Anel de Swardt | |
| 2016 | Caitlin Harty | Miss Grand South Africa 2016 | Unplaced | — | Harish Goyal | |
| 2017 | Yajna Debideen | 1st runner-up Miss Supranational South Africa 2017 | Unplaced | — | Lenie Pieterse | |
| 2018 | Misha Christie | Miss Grand South Africa 2018 | Unplaced | — | Lenie Pieterse | |
| 2019 | Belinde Schreuder | Miss Grand South Africa 2019 | Top 20 | — | Lenie Pieterse | |
| 2020 | Anronet Roelofsz | Miss Grand South Africa 2020 | Unplaced | — | Lenie Pieterse | |
| 2021 | Jeanè Van Dam | Miss Grand South Africa 2021 | 4th runner-up | — | Lenie Pieterse | |
| 2022 | Lu Juan Mzyk | Miss Grand South Africa 2022 | Unplaced | — | Lenie Pieterse | |
| 2023 | Gugulethu Mayisela | Miss Grand South Africa 2023 | Unplaced | — | Lenie Pieterse | |
| 2024 | Sharné Dheochand | Miss Grand South Africa 2024 | Unplaced | — | Lenie Pieterse | |