Shangaan beauty Nokuthula Sithole believes winning Miss South Africa was her destiny.
"When I was 6 years old, a stranger came up to my mother in a shopping centre and told her that I would be Miss South Africa one day," she said on Sunday.
"This week I had a dream that an elephant (Ndlovu - her clan name) was pushing the crown towards me with its trunk. I just knew I would win it."
Thuli, as she likes to be called, said her reign was going to be very different to that of her predecessor, Claudia Henkel.
"I am not a club person - I can't even dance."
Thuli is a determined young woman and it shows in her direct and confident approach to life.
"I am a Capricorn," she laughs, "I am always on the go.
"There are so many things I want to do this year. I am focusing on raising awareness of violence against women and children and, of course, I'll be doing a lot of HIV/Aids work.
"This pandemic is devastating our country. I think that the two issues are linked.
"The older generation of men believe that if you sleep with a virgin, you will be cured of Aids," she added.
"There is a lot of misinformation out there, and something needs to be done."
Thuli said she was surprisingly calm in the week leading up to the night of the pageant at Sun City.
"But when they announced my name, my body went numb from the waist down. I kept having flashbacks from the whole week. I was trying to see what the judges saw in me.
"You have to be assertive and confident. I have found myself. I am a woman of substance and I am very much in touch with my spirituality."