Jeffreys Bay’s Philene van Niekerk, Miss Global International South Africa 2024, represented her country in October at the 20th annual Miss Global International in the Cayman Islands, where she was awarded the Miss Social Impact Award.
Van Niekerk’s journey has been marked by resilience after competing for years in numerous national pageants in South Africa.
Her resilience recently earned her acknowledgement within the pageant industry as a national title-holder with the Miss Hotlegs South Africa organisation in 2023, allowing her to represent the country in Miss Global International 2024 as Miss Global International South Africa 2024, competing against 27 other countries.
Van Niekerk was also the sole representative from the African continent.
As part of the Miss Global International 2024 competition, she participated in the finals at the grand coronation night alongside the top 18 contestants, where she walked away with the prestigious Miss Social Impact Award.
Since this was van Niekerk’s first international experience, the opportunity to represent her country was a milestone she achieved despite facing many challenges.
With the belief that people are a product of their goals and not their circumstances, she said she hopes to empower the youth to never give up and to maintain a strong mindset and heart.
“I hope to encourage the youth to be passionate and embrace what makes them authentic and unique,” said van Niekerk.
She described visiting the Cayman Islands as a once-in-a-lifetime journey, requiring her to travel for four days on five different flights to participate in the pageant.
Van Niekerk emphasised her experiences of building strong friendships and being part of a sisterhood, learning about new cultures and diversities, meeting the governor of the country, and swimming in the Caribbean Sea at Stingray City.
She expressed the importance of representing South Africa with pride and dignity by sharing her country’s rich culture and heritage.
Van Niekerk believes she has made her country proud by winning the Social Impact Award, an accolade she hopes highlights her dedication to uplifting and inspiring young women in South Africa.
“I wish to thank my family, friends, and local as well as national South African businesses who supported my dream to represent our country internationally on this global platform,” said van Niekerk.
Having gained meaningful insight and knowledge from competing internationally, she plans to continue her reign in South Africa as Miss Global International South Africa 2024. Van Niekerk is also motivated to keep serving her community as an inspirational role model.
As the CEO and coach of the local modelling school, Feline Models, since 2016, she is determined to continue mentoring and nurturing future young talented models in her community, passing on her international knowledge and expertise to the next generation.
With perseverance and passion within the modelling industry, she has served as a role model to many, creating opportunities for models in the community to follow her example and compete on large platforms.
