Jo-Ann Strauss reflects on Miss South Africa journey
Twenty-four years ago, 19-year-old Jo-Ann Strauss entered a beauty pageant that would reshape her destiny.
Jo-Ann Strauss is celebrating a significant career milestone. More than two decades ago, she was crowned Miss South Africa 2000.
On December 9, 2000, Strauss, a teenager from Cape Town, entered a competition that not only changed the course of her life but also opened up unimaginable opportunities for her.
"Twenty-four years ago, this 19-year-old student from Blackheath was given an opportunity. I am so grateful to my parents and my mom in particular who encouraged me and gave me the confidence," she wrote on Instagram.
Now a women's empowerment advocate, she hopes to inspire others to follow their dreams. "In 2025, I look forward to continuing to pay it forward and to continuing to empower others."
The 43-year-old received a flood of admiration from her followers, including Miss South Africa 2023 Natasha Joubert, who wrote, "OG Miss SA😍."
At the time she entered Miss SA, Strauss was a B.Comm (Law) student at Stellenbosch University. She was in the middle of her exams and had an economics test scheduled just days after the competition.
"I was in the middle of a journey which would test my imposter syndrome to the next level. I remember so clearly that my parents and brother coincidentally bumped into me and the other finalists making our way through from rehearsals at the Superbowl at Sun City to our hotel and my dad handing me a sunflower he had picked on the way there," she wrote in a separate post shared in August.
Her father also handed her a breath mint. "He told me to take two," she joked.
Jo-Ann Strauss Parents
Her parents, Ingrid and Johan, travelled for several hours from Cape Town with her brother, Heinrich, to support her. Several other family members joined them.
"Those 10 supporters made the hugest noise and as I answered my final question and heard the crowd cheer, their voices drowned in the arena, but became louder than ever in my consciousness," she said. "My parents instilled in us, my late brother and I, a value system that I hope to pass on to our children. The world's voice should never drown out your own. Listen to your heart and spend time in silence so that your truth is louder and your voice can speak up for those whose voices are unfairly silenced."
Strauss shared a close bond with her brother Heinrich, who passed away in 2021. Her parents remain important figures in her life, with her father being her biggest supporter.
They have grown even closer following her mother's dementia diagnosis nearly a decade ago.
Though her road to success has not been smooth, Strauss has come a long way since her crowning moment in 2000. The beauty queen is now an international host, businesswoman, wife and mother of four children.
"My mom's dementia for the past nine years and my brother's passing have brought us to our knees. But while on our knees, we pray for strength and give thanks for all our blessings," she said in a Facebook post earlier this year.
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Main image: Instagram/@jo_anstrauss