Twelve beautiful finalists will compete for the 2015 Miss Deaf South Africa crown on Friday, 2nd of October 2015. The winner will not only proudly be a voice for deaf society in South Africa but will also go on to compete on an international stage, representing South Africa at the Miss Deaf World pageant.
The gala event will be held at the Barnyard Theatre in Pretoria and will start at 18:30. There are a number of local artists performing including Sabelo Mthembu, Cordelia, Chane Valentine and Mariaan Kuyper. If you'd love tickets, you can get them online at iTicket.co.za.
The Miss Deaf South Africa pageant has been in existence since 1997 and in 2000, it was officially founded as a non-profit organisation by Gert and Narda Els. The aim of the organisation is to provide "inspiration and opportunities to young Deaf women," according to their website.
"Miss Deaf South Africa must be an ambassador for her country, but most of all, she must be someone who can educate the hearing about the Deaf community and share with them the views of the Deaf community regarding so-called ‘disability’. She will deal with and improve issues such as unemployment, human rights, better communication, and proper training institutions for the Deaf."
The current Miss Deaf South Africa is beautiful redhead Elzane van der Bergh who began noticing symptoms of hearing loss at the age of 8. She now only has 3-5% hearing without her hearing aids. Elzane explains that she never imagined winning Miss Deaf South Africa.
Read: Meet the former Miss Deaf SA beauties
This year's finalists are:
Xolisile Faku, 20 - Johannesburg
Janie Erasmus, 27 - Pretoria
Barbara Vakele, 29 - Daveyton
Mia le Roux, 19 - Oudtshoorn
Luzandre van der Berg, 19 - Cape Town
Ellen Mans, 21 - Worcester
Chanika Viljoen, 21 - Kempton Park
Tashie Khan, 20 - Johannesburg
Christi Greeff, 21 - Pretoria
Thulisile Nkomo, 22 - Randburg
Elrie du Toit, 23 - Bloemfontein
Anzunel Erasmus, 24 - Krugersdorp
Watch this video to see all the finalists and choose your favourite!
Read more:
Former Miss Deaf SA takes centre stage in Cape Town ballet
Miss Deaf SA 2009 - Vicki Fourie's story
Almost half of the staff at this Cape Town hotel are deaf