President Ramaphosa praises new Miss SA

President Cyril Ramaphosa has added his voice to the flood of congratulations for Lalela Mswane on her Miss SA win.

Mswane beat nine other beauty queens for the crown at a glitzy ceremony in the GrandWest Casino in Cape Town on Saturday.

The 24-year-old from KwaZulu-Natal is a model and dancer who also holds a law degree.

While her name dominated social media, Ramaphosa took to his Twitter account to sing Mswane’s praises.

“Congratulations to our new Miss SA, Lalela Mswane, who took the hotly-contested title last night against a group of highly inspirational young women.”

He said he was particularly impressed with her pledge to fight for the youth and women in SA.

“We took particular interest in her message of hope for the youth of SA and her advocacy for the advancement of women.”

Mswane spent her first day as Miss SA speaking to media, participating in a photo shoot and appearing at an event for Brand SA.

“I really wasn’t expecting it which is why I started crying when I was crowned. I was so shocked because I was already so fulfilled and blessed to have made the top three. Taking the title is genuinely the cherry on top,” Mswane said.

 “My role now us to encourage, to inspire, to give hope and to continue to work and build onto the legacies of Miss SA’s past. I intend to live by every word I have expressed and to serve, lead and represent our beautiful nation to the best of my abilities.”