Zoalize Jansen van Rensburg wins big at the Miss World 2025 competition
The Miss World 2025 Grand Finale will take place on 31 May at the HITEX Exhibition Centre in Hyderabad.
South Africa's Miss World 2025 representative, Zoalize Jansen van Rensburg, won the prestigious World Designer Award for the Africa region at the 72nd Miss World Top Model competition.
Miss World 2016 Stephanie Del Valle hosted the event this past weekend at the iconic Trident Hotel in Hyderabad, India.
Alongside the Top Model competition, the pageant features several fast-track events, including the Sports Challenge, the Beauty with a Purpose segment, and the Talent Competition. These events allow winners to bypass the standard elimination process and advance directly to the next round.
'Out of 108 remarkable contestants, four continental winners have been crowned – and each has now secured a coveted spot in the Miss World 2025 quarterfinals,' the Miss World Organisation announced.
The four continental winners of the Top Model competition – Jasmine Gerhardt of Ireland (Europe), Selma Kamanya of Namibia (Africa), Nandini Gupta of India (Asia & Oceania), and Aurélie Joachim of Martinique (Americas & Caribbean) – have all secured a place in the Miss World 2025 quarterfinals.
ALSO READ: SA misses out on Miss World 2025 'Talent Competition' final – but all hope is not lost
Zoalize Jansen van Rensburg wins World Designer Award for the Africa region
Jansen van Rensburg impressed the judges in a custom-made gown by fashion designer Juan William Aria.
Made from satin glass fabric and featuring hand-embroidered motifs, the dress paid homage to South Africa's rich natural beauty and cultural heritage.
At the centre of the dress was a protea — South Africa's national flower — symbolising unity, strength, and diversity.
'Congratulations to Zoalize Jansen van Rensburg, Miss World South Africa, winner of the World Designer Award — Africa. Zoalize expressed her deep gratitude to the designer, calling the gown 'a celebration of who we are as a people — diverse, rooted, and proud',' the Miss World Organisation posted on Instagram.
Reflecting on her Miss World 2025 journey, Zoalize said it has been an adventure of a lifetime.
'What I can say is this has been an adventure of a lifetime. I got to share the story of all the wonderful friends and family of my project, Never too Young to Advocate… I have felt empowered and supported every step of the way,' she wrote.
The Miss World 2025 Grand Finale will take place on 31 May at the HITEX Exhibition Centre in Hyderabad.
NOW READ: Braam Fashion Week returns with bold designs and Joburg's young talent
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Mail & Guardian
20 hours ago
- Mail & Guardian
Noxolo Dlamini returns to the stage as Sarafina
Third time lucky: Noxolo Dlamini returns to the role of Sarafina in a production of the musical, on at the Joburg Theatre until 15 June. (Photo supplied) For Noxolo Dlamini, acting isn't merely a job — it is spiritual. It's a channel that allows her to connect with people through their spirit. I can immediately sense the passion she has for the vocation when she speaks. For her, the art of acting is one that enables her to portray characters that stand up for others and seek social justice. Her portrayal of Sarafina is no exception. She has returned to theatre to reprise her role in the critically acclaimed musical by late South African playwright Mbongeni Ngema. The opening night of Sarafina took place on 30 May at the Joburg Theatre and it will run until 15 June. The award-winning actress recounts how acting was a big part of her childhood, long before she stepped onto the stage and screen. 'I've always acted,' she says. 'I started in nursery school. The earliest memory or story I've heard from my mother is that there was a show that we did. I was like five, six. We did the Down in the Jungle song and I got to play the mama. 'And I remember my mom saying that my teacher at the time went up to her after the performance and said, 'I don't know if you know this, but Nox is really good at this thing, you know. She seems to really enjoy it too.' And my mom was like, 'Oh, okay. Well that's really nice.' 'And so my mom always reminds me of that story and I think that's when she first realised. 'But, for me, I used to love playing in the mirror. I used to dance, sing and act in front of the mirror. It's just something I really liked. I just enjoyed it. I got to primary school and that's all I did.' During her time at Craighall Primary School in Johannesburg, Dlamini had a drama teacher, Mrs Martel, who would later on put in a word to convince her mom to allow her to pursue her love of acting. 'When I got to grade seven, she's the one that spoke to my mother about the National School of the Arts and she's, like, 'I think she should go there because she clearly loves it and she's good at it.' 'So then I went to the National School of the Arts. She really fought for me, you know, and my mom was very supportive. 'It was really lovely because my mom's a single mom of five and I think she appreciated the help of someone else spotting my talent and actually pushing for me to, I guess, go for what I really love.' Dlamini was cast as Sarafina in 2017 and again in 2019. After that, she took a break from theatre to focus on film and television projects. Photo supplied 'I've always done theatre. My career studying-wise was always theatre. Film and television wasn't the thing I was actually planning on doing until 2018. 'The idea started playing in my head in 2017, but in 2018, I made the decision that, in 2019, I'm not auditioning for theatre anymore.' It was during this break from theatre that she won a South African Film and Television Award in 2023 for the best actress in a feature film category for her performance in Netflix's Silverton Siege. The actress recently starred in Amazon Prime's action film G20, inspired by the G20 meeting set to take place in South Africa in November. It stars Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award-winning American actress Viola Davis as 'Potus', the president of the US, and New Zealand actor Antony Starr as Rutledge, the villain. 'When I got G20, I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, I actually get to work with her [Davis]!' Dlamini remembers. 'You know, the first time I worked with her briefly on The Woman King, doing stunts, but now I actually have a scene with her.' What makes the movie an exciting watch, for South Africans anyway, is spotting the local accents of several of the characters. Dlamini plays Lesedi, a South African government agent posing as a hotel staff member. 'Lesedi is a badass. 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Mail & Guardian
4 days ago
- Mail & Guardian
Bitter Winter: the show will go on but what of the people in it?
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It is riveting to watch, like a live dissection executed with incredible skill and grace and with great care. He puts beautiful truths and vivid stories into the mouths of the play's two stars, reveals their inner workings in honest, measured, sparkling dialogue, so that, by the end of it, you're genuinely touched, eyes doubtless a little wet. It never skips through time, nor does it use effects or stagey gimmicks. 'Now is the winter of our discontent …': Lesedi Job, the director of Bitter Winter, a three-hander written by Paul Slabolepszy. Photos: Gustav Gerdener It is one space, a casting agency waiting room where the kettle's on the fritz and the flimsy excuse for a coffee station is stocked with the cheap and nasty instant stuff. Plus there's a presumably emotionless clock-watching production assistant-type running around, always talking to actors with her back to them. As it turns out, she's human, too. 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The question of whether his disdain is the result of a specific chip on his shoulder, a characteristic of impatient youth or casual indifference to a stranger who is chewing up the oxygen in the room is part of the play's dramatic unfolding. What unfolds, too, is proof you do not need complicated plots, nor an avalanche of profanities, no overt politics, tales of abuse, nor some horrifying hidden secret to generate something powerful and impactful on stage. You simply need truth, stories with heart and relationships between characters whose underlying conflict is capable of going somewhere. You're set up from the start to assume Jean-Louis is cantankerous and gruff. That he is some badly-dressed fuddy-duddy looking after number one. And it's such assumptions that get knocked down again and again in Bitter Winter, a play that's figuratively about those bitter twilight years of old age but also, more literally, takes place on a cold winter afternoon in downtown Joburg. The audience is also set up to instantly judge and characterise Prosper, played so adorably and effortlessly by Ditsele that you almost assume that, like his character, he's not putting in the work, that perhaps he really is simply slouching around, easing into the role, doing what comes naturally. Which is often the bone older people like Jean-Louis have to pick with young people — they're unwilling to put in the hard slog. They think they know everything and, in some respects, they do. Prosper has quickly ratcheted up fame, has all the indulgent playthings of a get-rich-quick lifestyle, including a warm thermal undershirt in his bag and an Audi with a ding that'll cost a small fortune to fix. The casting agency waiting room says it all, though: the behind-the-scenes reality of an industry that is often associated with glamour and opening-night fanfare. But what we're confronted with here is anything but glitzy; it's downright appalling, not even a thought for a bit of heating to keep actors warm while waiting for some hotshot film director to arrive from the airport where he's just landed, no doubt having flown first class. The traditions Bitter Winter draws on are rich, from the great speeches of Shakespeare to Beckett's absurdist set-up of having two characters endlessly waiting for the arrival of some god-like figure. And there's the familiarity of something known to all of us — being uncomfortably stuck in a room with a stranger. Slabolepszy is such an expert on the human condition, and knows so well how to find the best in people, that he's able to draw his characters not into a punch-up, but into a far more dazzling and purposeful expression of all their inner turmoils, memories, hopes, dreams and hurts. Then there's that moment of mutual recognition, the point at which what we witness on stage is an expression of our shared humanity. Something you notice is that, despite his complaints about the cold and the physical pain he's in, Jean-Louis does not feel especially sorry for himself. To an extent, he has accepted his fate, knows enough about how the narrative plays out to realise how and why his life has taken the turn it has. There's a kind of sadness in that, too, but of course this tragic old thespian has been schooled not only by life but also by the parts he's played. And he's comforted, perhaps, by the knowledge that he still has it in him to act — and to do so with everything in his soul. He proves as much, in fact, in a heart-wrenching scene where, at Prosper's insistence, he performs a speech by Richard III's Duke of Gloucester. As Prosper watches Jean-Louis give the performance of a lifetime you see a switch being turned in the young man's heart. He has never had someone mentor him, never known anyone to take the time to show him what acting can in fact be. It's a profound and stirring moment, one in which theatre becomes a place of healing, a sanctuary where souls meet, a space where reality is shaped into something new. Bitter Winter will be playing at the Baxter Studio in Cape Town until 14 June.
The South African
5 days ago
- The South African
SA's Zoalize responds to Miss World 'snub'
South Africa's Zoalize Jansen van Rensburg has responded to criticism from the public following her early exit from the Miss World pageant. The law student – a fan favourite – surprisingly did not make the Top 40. On Saturday, 31 May, Thailand's Opal Suchata won the crown in the finale, which took place in India. In an Instagram Story, SA representative Zoalize Jansen van Rensburg shared a message to her fans. It read: 'I can't wait to come back to our beautiful country. I see all your messages, I feel all your love, and I appreciate you all. We might not have gotten the result we expected, but never let this break our spirit.' The brunette beauty added, 'South Africa, you will always be my pride and safe place'. Image via Instagram: @zoalizevr While Miss World South Africa has not officially commented on Zoalize Jansen van Rensburg's early exit, franchise owner Carol Bouwer did repost a telling message from a pageant fan account. It read: 'Today's outcome was deeply disappointing. I know that many people are expecting an outrage from us. But I do hope that we will keep calm and accept the Miss World organisation's decision. 'Speaking ill will not only reflect on us bad as a country. But also mess up chances for other representatives in the future'. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 . Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp , Facebook , X, and Bluesky for the latest news.
