In less than 10 days, reigning Miss South Africa Ndavi Nokeri will be walking the Miss Universe stage at New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
The 71st Miss Universe will be hosted by former title holder Olivia Frances Culpo (2012) and television host Jeannie Mai Jenkins. Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray and American TV personality Zuri Hall will be the backstage commentators.
The Miss South Africa organisation has asked locals to send beautiful messages for Nokeri ahead of the competition, and this is what they said.
“Always remember your roots, be yourself, and have fun while at it,” @tshepo_mei.
Instagram user @wonderfulkuvonda said: “You were born for such a time as this! Esther 4:14 May God’s outstanding favour walk beside you and within you for you!”
People from other African countries like Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Ghana also wished her well.
The Limpopo beauty will be dressed by Scalo Designer for her national costume, while Juan Visser of Juan William Aria is responsible for all her other gowns.
Inspired by her Tsonga culture, Nokeri’s national costume features African map wings built by Henk Henderson of Henderson Worx.
“For the first time in our national costume, we also wanted to have Africa represented. One part of the wing will be the South African flag which we are proud to carry across the world stage. However, there's another element that we wanted to showcase, which is that Ndavi is part of a greater global community and is proudly African. The other part of the wing features all 54 African countries to emphasise we are part of a universal network,” said Werner Wessels, the creative director of the Miss SA organisation.
The Miss Universe finale will take place on January 14.