Miss SA has 50/1 shot in Miami

Miss South Africa Ziphozakhe Zokufa will have to defy 50/1 odds if she is to win Sunday's Miss Universe pageant in Miami.

Betting company Paddy Power has placed Miss Mexico and Miss Colombia as joint favourites at 6/1, followed by Miss USA and Miss India at 8/1, Miss Venezuela at 10/1, and Sweden, Spain, Australia, and Costa Rica at 12/1.

If she does triumph, Zokufa will also be only the second beauty queen from Africa to snatch the crown between 1995 and 2013 (the pageant wasn't staged last year).

Miss Botswana, Mpule Kwelagobe, was crowned Miss Universe in 1999.

Not that the 25-year-old from Port Elizabeth appears at all daunted.

Her posts on Instagram and Twitter of late are peppered with selfies with other contestants, and show her exploring the host city, and even playing golf with Donald Trump.

In an interview on the Miss Universe YouTube page last week, Zokufa praised her parents for giving her the space to chase her dreams.

"My parents have always been supportive of what my siblings and I wanted to do and pursue. Growing up they obviously didn't have the opportunities that we have, so being here representing my country at Miss Universe is a dream come true."

Zokufa said she is "obsessed" with music. She sang from a young age and started playing piano from the age of five, and can now play drums, guitar, ukulele and even the French horn.

She said growing up in South Africa was "incredible". "That's the beauty of our country - you wake up in a country full of endless possibilities. I'm sitting here today because of that ."

Zokufa was crowned Miss South Africa in December after Rolene Strauss won Miss World in London.