*Caption: (Left to right) Third Princess Sierra James, Nomphumelelo Nkosi (winner) and Second Princess Pearl Cele

Written by: Nqobile Msomi

The International Convention Centre (ICC) hosted the 3rd Annual Miss eThekwini Municipality, which showcased ladies’ beauty and skills.

Artists such as Aewon, Shekhinah Donnel and Kyle Deutsch, Dj Tira, Babes Wodumo and upcoming artist Lelo Green, were present to entertain the audience.

Head of Parks and Recreation, Thembinkosi Ngcobo, was also in attendance and the show’s judges were the cast of Jozi Divas: Aimee Sadie, Nazley Delport, Puleng Mash-Spies, Stevie French, Christie Swanepoel, Sorisha Naidoo, who is married to billionaire Vivian Reddy.

Ngcobo thanked Naidoo for the support of her and her husband.

The show was hosted by Selby popularly known as ‘Selbeyonce’ and Jessica Nkosi.

Eighteen beautiful ladies competed for the prize money of R50 000 as Miss Ethekweni Municipality 2016, R30 000 for the first princess, and R20 000 for the second princess.

Nompumelelo Nkosi (22) took home the title along with a sponsored car for a year and numerous other prizes. She is currently doing her 5th year in medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN).

“I have a passion both for medicine and beauty pageants and I will not give up either,” said Nkosi.

Pearl Cele won first princess, with Sierra James taking home second princess.

Former Gagasi FM radio host Jacinta Ngobese, thanked the families of the ladies and the people who came out to support the show.

“It has been an interesting journey and thanks to Parks and Recreation, we are happy with the support from the municipality. It is rare to find a man (Ngcobo) who has an interest in beauty contests,” she said.

On a closing note, she touched on August being Women’s Month.

“As it is women’s month, I encourage you to support other women. It is great to see there is no pull-down syndrome but so many women supporting other women,” concluded Ngobese.