MADE FOR THIS CROWN

MISS SOUTH AFRICA 2023 NATASHA JOUBERT IS THE RELATABLE MAIN CHARACTER YOU CAN'T HELP BUT ROOT FOR. AHEAD, THIS COMEBACK QUEEN SHARES HOW SHE MANAGES THE THINGS THAT KEEP, HER HAPPY - WHILE NAVIGATING HER NEW, BUSY LIFE.

- KEMONG MOPEDI

There’s definitely something to be said about a hard past breeding resilience, humility and diligence. Following Natasha’s warm embrace and a “do you mind if we do the interview here?”, pointing to the light grey corner couch unit in the cosy living room of a home she shares with her partner of nine years, Enrico Vermaak, I start mentally scrutinising her for signs of the rehearsed answers, perfect posture and mannerisms we’ve come to expect from Miss South Africa. Boy, was I disappointed. . .

…Instead I’m met with a 26-year-old who is refreshingly real and honest, a realisation that leaves me a tad embarrassed for nearly choosing to rock my Sunday best earlier that morning to this interview with Miss South Africa. For decades, the Miss SA pageant (specifically) was considered a paragon of outstanding morals and mannerisms, with the pageant’s title holders expected to act almost unhuman. Most of us assume, for instance, that Miss SA wakes up with a fully made-up face and is immune to dating, like a real-life Barbie. Absurd, right? Thankfully, those silly stereotypes are dying – albeit slowly. “There are lots of rules about how a Miss SA should be this and not that. But I’m going to be opinionated and open myself up to learning. I want young girls to look at me and be inspired to be themselves,” shares Natasha.

Clad in a chic summer fit of varying shades of nude and her right arm accessorised by a lounging Cody, her eldest puppy, she muses: “I thought of doing this interview at the Miss SA apartment in Sandringham (east of Johannesburg) but thought, ‘Let me do it here where you’ll get a sense of my real life behind the scenes and where I grew up.’”