Mia le Roux made history on Women’s Day last week when she took home the crown as the first deaf woman to win Miss South Africa.



“It was such a big pinch-me-moment; almost too big to comprehend. It was such a big dream, and then my brain had to take it all in at once,” Le Roux, born in Sasolburg in South Africa’s Free State province, tells FORBES AFRICA in an interview a few days after the contest.



The 28-year-old, who is deaf and wears a cochlear implant, is the first differently-abled finalist in the history of the Miss South Africa pageant, and she competed against nine other contestants on August 9, at the SunBet Arena at Time Square, in the nation&#8217;s capital Pretoria.



Currently pursuing a part-time bachelor’s degree in commerce and marketing at the University of South Africa (UNISA), she has also worked full-time as a marketing manager with a startup business.



Having wowed South Africa with her stage presence, it was ultimately her stance on inclusivity that had most of the arena loudly rooting for her.



“I am a proudly South African deaf woman and I know what it feels like to be excluded,” Le Roux said on stage on Saturday.



Currently based in Rosebank, Cape Town, Le Roux was diagnosed with profound hearing loss at the age of one. When she was only two, her community, friends, family, and even strangers, helped raise funds so they could gift her a cochlear implant. This operation was what Le Roux called “a life-changing opportunity” that allowed her to hear; an opportunity that would give her the courage to take part in Miss South Africa and subsequently win.



“I did definitely have fear [coming into the competition],” she says. “But also, my challenges were like a fuel and fire beneath me. It really has been what has driven me, because I was just telling myself I cannot continue to go through life with all these barriers and all these challenges, when I know I am capable, I am intelligent and that I can achieve my dreams. But I just needed to break some barriers in order to get there, because we do deserve to have a similar baseline to work from.”



Stephanie Weil, the CEO of the Miss South Africa pageant, said that Le Roux embodies the ethos of the organization fully: “Our ethos being that if you can dream it, you can achieve it. She also embraces and personifies the organization’s four pillars – duty, championship, empowerment and beauty, so I can think of no-one more fitting to wear the crown and we can’t wait to see what she achieves during her reign.”



“We are leaving way too many South Africans behind,” Le Roux said in her final answer before taking home the &#8216;Mowana&#8217; crown. “I am here to teach the included how to be inclusive towards the excluded and empower the excluded with tools so they can reach their full potential. Because [we are at our] strongest when unified.”



The run-up to the Miss South Africa pageant had been met with social media buzz as another contestant in the race to the crown, 23-year-old law student, Chidimma Adetshina, stepped down from the pageant earlier last week. Her entry came under fire when questions arose regarding her nationality, owing to her father and mother being of Nigerian and Mozambican descent.



In the wake of this issue, the Miss South Africa organization stated that they celebrate South Africa’s rich, inclusive culture and diversity.



“We uphold the spirit of Ubuntu-Botho and are committed to contributing to the self-belief, self-confidence, and fulfillment of the aspirations of all girls and women in Africa and worldwide,” the organization said in a statement.



According to reports, Adetshina’s pageant career does not end with the Miss South Africa debacle as she has now been extended an invitation for the upcoming Miss Universe Nigeria 2024 competition.



Le Roux, on the other hand, will be competing for the Miss Universe crown in Mexico in November.



“I really do hope that I will be able to break barriers there as well,” she tells FORBES AFRICA.



“I do believe that [fighting for inclusivity] is my life&#8217;s calling. It’s what I was meant to do here, and I will always have that passion. A passion is not something you can just get, it&#8217;s something that is born within you and also grows because of your life&#8217;s experiences. And I have had my entire life to create this passion within me. So, I definitely will be taking that with me [to Miss Universe].”

Tag: Mia Le Roux

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

The Sounds Of Success: As A Deaf Contestant, How Miss South Africa 2024 Broke Real Barriers