On Tuesday, Miss South Africa Organisation CEO Stephanie Weil revealed during an Instagram Live that the public will now be able to vote for their favourite semi-finalists and determine who moves forward to the next round.
Reigning Miss South Africa Sasha-Lee Olivier will introduce the Miss South Africa 2020 top 15 live on Instagram on Wednesday at 19:00 in a virtual public reveal. The public is encouraged to vote for their favourite, who will make up the top 10 and compete in the finale which moves to later in 2020.
Stephanie explains that the pageant, originally scheduled for August, has been pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions on movement and social gatherings.
She says: "We have been asked to push back the pageant as far as possible this year to see what changes there may be in lockdown restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We can't go later than mid-November because we have to choose Miss South Africa 2020 and two runners-up -- all of whom will represent South Africa on the international stage."
Stephanie added they were delighted to be introducing the top 15 on a virtual platform: "We usually have a function where the semi-finalists are revealed to the media and a group of invited guests only. However this year, anyone who wants to take part can do so by simply going to the Miss South Africa Instagram account @official_misssa where Sasha-Lee will be unveiling and talking live to the top 15."
Voting for Miss South Africa opens on Thursday, 25 June, at 09:00 and closes on 16 July at 23:00.
The top 10 will be announced at the end of July.
ABOUT THE PUBLIC VOTING PROCESS:
Those who want to vote can go to the Miss South Africa website misssa.co.za, click on the Miss South Africa 2020 tab, select the semi-finalist profile of their choice and her Computicket voting link will open. Payment can be made using a credit card.
To vote using cash: Go to the money market counter in store (at any Checkers, Checkers Hyper, Shoprite or Usave). Choose your voting bundle - R20, R50 or R100 and the cashier will cast your votes on the Computicket system and print your voting receipt. There will be three voting bundles available: R20 - 4 votes; R50 - 12 votes (two free votes) and R100 - 25 votes (five free votes).
Each semi-finalist will have a voting number.
WATCH THE INSTAGRAM LIVE ANNOUNCEMENT HERE:
Recently it was announced that, for the first time in the history of the Miss South Africa pageant, the top three finalists will represent the country at the world's three most prestigious pageants.
Previously, the Miss South Africa Organisation has sent a representative to both Miss Universe and Miss World, but will also now be fielding a candidate to Miss Supranational.