Down memory lane with our beauties

Since its establishment in 1980 by Nic Kruger, Miss Namibia has been one of the most prestigious events in the country. Every year, a young woman is chosen to be the brand ambassador of beauty in Namibia and after their reign, the beauty queens disappear with only a handful seen around.The current national director of the pageant since 1999, Conny Maritz said that over the years, Miss Namibia has grown from a small pageant to one of the most glamorous events in Namibia. “The whole drive of the pageant has a charity input. We are driving beautiful charities and that is one of the main tasks of the winner during her reign.” Although the response from the public over the years has increased, Maritz mentioned that more women should enter. She believes that there is a lot of potential around the country, but some women tend to shun taking advantage of the opportunity to take a chance and participate. Asked about the challenges she faces when organising the event, finance came up as one of the main problems saying franchise fees to send the winner to take part in international events like Miss World are extremely high. Asked to comment about complaints from the public in connection with hiring South African-based companies to help with the production of the show and recruiting designers from other countries, she fired back and said Namibians are only willing to be recruited for payment. “The public is complaining without any proper research and reasoning. All the lighting and other elements for the events come from Namibia,” she said. “I am giving them a wonderful platform of a professional production to showcase their garments, but they want to be paid and I do not have that budget. I will have to outsource other designers, because the event must go on,” Maritz added. She however said the invitation is open for Namibian designers to approach her and would be keen to showcase their work on ramp. Maritz also added that the same principle used at international fashion weeks is the same one the Miss Namibia pageant stands by. “If someone is running a fashion week for example, designers are invited to participate in the fashion week. Do the fashion week organisers buy them fabric? Pay them to make the outfits? Pay them to showcase their work? No. It is an international standard.” Dealer principal of Pupkewitz Toyota, Anton Westraadt was proud to mention that Pupkewitz Toyota has been sponsoring Miss Namibia since its inception under the leadership of the late Harold Pupkewitz. “We see the Miss Namibia event as a quality event and platform and it is a production that Namibia can be proud. Before we sponsor any events, we look out for synergies between the two brands,” Westraadt said. He also said everyone has a joint responsibility when it comes to contributing towards putting Namibia out there as an international destination. “Through her participation in international events like Miss Universe, it lands us an opportunity to put Namibia on the map. I do not think there is enough cooperation and support from our country, because events like Miss Namibia help with the promotion of the country,” he said. Miss Namibia 1990, Ronel Liebenberg:Crowned after independence, Ronel Liebenberg said her journey was a life-changing event. She was exposed to many different areas of life and described the entire experience as fun. Asked if she would enter again, if granted the opportunity, she said she would refuse as “today’s Miss Namibia is more like a business and it is not from the heart.” During her era, she described her reign as an outreach to the community and winners did not charge anything when their presence was requested for certain events. A flight attendant for the head of state, Liebenberg confessed that she did not plan to enter the pageant and she believes it was meant to be. Although she said during her reign she was extremely busy and she did not have an assigned team to help her to manage the events, she enjoyed herself regardless. “People would contact you directly and invite you to their events and you had to do your own diary. It was much better that way as it kept you closer to your own people. It was so personal and there was no one in between.” She believes that the continuous stigma towards the pageant is contributed to the image Miss Namibia portrays. Liebenberg believes that it is a person’s choice to paint what image they want to pay for. “Do not use plastic dolls as a reference, but use the self as a reference. You can bring change wherever you feel necessary,” she said. Many women are discouraged by the strict criteria of the pageant and Liebenberg said it should not only be the main focus. “Yes, it is a bonus if you can model and capture stage presence, but you are rarely asked to walk the ramp during your reign, but how many times are you required to be with children, old people and be part of the community?” Miss Namibia 1991, Michelle McLean-Bailey:Twenty-six years after her reign, Michelle McLean-Bailey is one of the most memorable Miss Namibia winners and one of the few that still plays an active role to uplift the image of the country. After being crowned Miss Universe in 1992 in Bangkok, she had the opportunity to travel to over 40 countries around the world, meeting celebrities and heads of state and contributed to the raising of millions of dollars globally for charities as a UN Ambassador. She then founded the Michelle McLean Children Trust that over the years has initiated and run hundreds of projects, to fundraise over N$50 million for underprivileged children in Namibia, all thanks to the platform that Miss Namibia gave her. “The positive aspect about being a celebrity is that I have been able to raise awareness on a global platform for children’s issues, and the opportunity to raise millions of funds for children’s projects in Namibia,” she said. Now based in the USA, her modelling career began at the age of 13 through a course she did with Conny Maritz. She still looks forward to be in front of the camera today. “I still model today, doing endorsements for various companies, and more recently I’m the spokesperson for an anti-aging cream here in the USA called Celeb Cream.”Due to the small population, McLean-Bailey says she has not seen much of a difference with the modelling industry over the years, but social media has created a demand for more models worldwide. Miss Namibia 1995, Patricia Hoeksema:Group manager of corporate relations at Ohlthaver & List Group, then Patricia Burt, she was very reserved and soft-spoken before winning the crown. “Miss Namibia taught me to step up in terms of playing a role and living up to expectations,” she said. After winning Miss Unam in 1994, her friends encouraged her to enter Miss Namibia and she said she did not take it very seriously, because she thought of it as a fun experience and less of a competition. “It went quite easy for me because I was not nervous and I did not raise any high expectations of myself. I thought of it as an opportunity to learn, meet, greet people and enjoy myself,” Hoeksema said. She jokingly added that she wished they had access to emails that time as it was quite difficult to communicate with event organisers. “Cell phones came out in 1995 and I remember when I received my phone as a gift from Nokia at that stage, there was still no MTC network and I had this little phone in a box just waiting so I could use it. The network came only a few months later and I was one of the first people to have a phone and that was great, because it contributed to organising events during my reign,” she said. At 20 years of age, she had to play hostess for 82 different women from all the over the world for the Miss Universe pageant in 1995 when it was held in Windhoek at the Windhoek Country Club resort. “It was one of my most memorable moments during my reign, because I was a proud ambassador of my country and you could experience the beauty and diverse history of Namibia with them,” Hoeksema said. In 1995, there was still a terrible stigma of HIV and Aids and people were not well-educated about the disease and had limited access to anti-retroviral treatment. Hoeksema got involved with the Aids-Care Trust with then patron Nickey Iyambo and helped with raising awareness as Miss Namibia. “I also supported different initiatives like documentaries that NBC was producing. We would go into households and inform the people that sticking to their medication and changing the lifestyle would help them to fight the disease,” she added. Miss Namibia 1996, Faghma Coetzee:After completing her BCom degree at Unam, Faghma Coetzee left for South Africa in 1999. She met her previous partner in 2000 and they left for the UK at the end of 2001. A divorcee with two daughters and currently pursuing a change in career, Coetzee was crowned Miss Namibia in 1996 and is still recognised by the Namibian people after 21 years.Currently based in the UK, she lives a street away from Sheya Shipanga who is Miss Namibia 1997. After leaving Namibia, she took part in less modelling gigs and did more acting. She did small acting roles for television programmes, advertisements, appeared in music videos and movies while doing her fulltime job. “I did this in South Africa and the first couple of years in the UK. After giving birth to my children, I did a few magazine and modelling shoots and appeared in a few documentaries and films,” she said. Thanking Facebook as her medium to see the movers and shakers in the industry, she feels that local talent is ignored and lack of clear legal practices in place for those in the industry, makes them more open to exploitation. Miss Namibia 2000, Mia de Klerk:After completing law degree shortly after being crowned, Mia de Klerk continued with modelling work both locally and internationally. She hosted TV shows in Namibia and in South Africa, got married and lived in Dubai for almost five years and completed her Master’s degree in Marketing Communications to focus on developing and building luxury brands. She and her husband recently moved back to Namibia, and are glad to be “home sweet home”. “I was crowned Miss Namibia 17 years ago and am surprised that some people still recognise me. I often get a funny “don’t I know you from somewhere” look from strangers, and become quite shy when they ask whether I was a former Miss Namibia,” De Klerk said. “Being the mother of a three-year-old is a full time job. I have so much respect for mothers. You only realise what it is all about when you have your own little toddler to look after. But it is truly such a blessing!” she said. De Klerk who established a marketing communications company in 2008 prefers to work with large organisations and attends to their individual strategic marketing and communications needs. She is also very passionate about design and has a few projects running in the background. Through her travels, interactions, participation and exchanges, she has come to know who the people of this country really are, what they are made of, their vulnerabilities, their needs and wants. “Being able to see the real person, relate to them and connect opens many doors. Relationships are what the world is made of,” she added. Asked what her advice is, for the next queen, De Klerk said Miss Namibia is an amazing opportunity to grow as an individual, but warns that the title comes with a huge responsibility. “Our next queen should be both a local and an international ambassador for our country, but she should also be a strong role model for young ladies. Her attitude, work ethic and character, should be an example others want to follow.”Miss Namibia 2007, Marichen Luiperdt:It was nine years ago when the 22-year-old Marichen Luiperdt was crowned. Grateful for the opportunity, Luiperdt is very happy with her life and gives grace to God. “It has been such a long time ago and so much has changed in terms of using that platform to grow and maximise your potential while reigning,” she added. Luiperdt however feels that if a professional and qualified mentor was assigned to women that are crowned yearly, they would excel in the industry and make use of that platform to contribute to the uplifting of the country. Luiperdt also feels that people's views and interest in the pageant have also changed whereby some lack the support to render assistance for the purpose. In the same breath, she applauded different private organisations and companies as sponsorship over the years has increased. “As the title holder, it only makes sense that you give back or work towards making a difference in the lives of others and there is a purpose for being an ambassador of Namibia for that year that you are reigning,” Luiperdt said. Currently employed at the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and furthering her studies, the aspiring business woman encourages and supports women who want to take up modelling, but warns that it is very difficult to grow in Namibia. “I realised that it only makes sense to go abroad if you really want to make it as a model hence my desire for modelling has unfortunately changed as I am trying to grow in other sectors of life.” Asked what can be done to uplift the modelling industry, Luiperdt said money needs to be availed to people who need sufficient mentoring and training. “Local institutions to support our own so that they reach international platforms which is the only way to earn a living and set Namibia among those that can compete at that level,” she added. Miss Namibia 2008, Marelize Robberts:Commending Conny Maritz and other partners of the pageant, Marelize Robberts has nothing but gratitude to express for her experience as Miss Namibia 2008 and wishes the next winner success. She is glad for the networking opportunities, exposure and different people she was presented with during her reign. “Looking at the past five Miss Namibia winners, they have done exceptionally well in international pageants and is all because of the whole support structure behind it. This proves that Miss Namibia has really grown,” Robberts said. Looking back and commenting on what has changed, she said social media now plays a big role around the pageant and it can be used as an effective medium to create the buzz before and after the crowning of the winner. After handing over her crown, Robberts still has an emotional attachment to the charities she has worked with during her reign and she stresses that even after reigning, the winner should use her contacts to go back and see what her work has contributed to a certain community. A public relations officer at ErongoMed, Robberts is still part of caring for the community as her work allows her to work very closely with different organisations like Champions for Life that support people living with HIV and Aids. “Modelling is something that will always stay connected with my heart and I still do beauty pageants, assist with modelling agencies and help young girls achieve the right modelling etiquette,” she said. Starting ballet and gymnastics at a young age, Robberts said her extra mural activities as a young girl contributed to building her confidence. Going as far as making it to the top 10 for Top Model at Miss World, Robberts stressed that the media should cover Miss Namibia events and show the country what they are actually doing. She also added that socially, people can get more involved and these should include more local designers and entrepreneurs. “If you take yourself and broaden your horizons and see what you can bring to the table, everybody will be able to benefit from it.”Miss Namibia 2010, Odile Müller:Currently enrolled at the African Leadership Institute which revolves around teambuilding and mentorship, Odile Müller is a force to be reckoned with and one can say she is a jack of all trades. The actress, dancer and model is also one of the most memorable winners and says it is all because she loves what she does and believes that every winner brought their own unique element to the pageant and every beauty queen should be celebrated. She confessed that her journey was quite challenging and fame could easily distract you from the main goal which is making a difference. She also added that she would not change her experience for anything saying it allowed her to grow in areas she thought she could never thrive in. “The person you become after this whole journey is really worth the effort, because it forces you to become a servant for your country,” Müller said. She said that the reason why women shy away from entering Miss Namibia is because they see it in a negative light. She stresses that the pageant is about empowering women and allows them to become an ambassador of their country. Due to these negative thoughts, it resulted in the swimsuit category being stripped away from the pageant. “Although we need money to make this pageant phenomenal and amazing, we as citizens of our country need to renew our minds and change it back to what Miss Namibia was, and which was a celebration of young beauties,” she said. One of the cast members of the successful ‘Katutura’ movie, Müller has seen a lot of change within the pageant and loves what she has seen over the years. She urges the public to more interest and to contribute in whatever way they can. “Perhaps we could have a panel whereby the public airs the views and opinions and create solutions together to improve the pageant.” Miss Namibia 2012; Tsakana Nkandih:Currently busy with studies for a Master’s in Business Administration and is an officer in the training and development department, Tsakana Nkandih says her parents were very supportive of her decision to enter the pageant. “In society, modelling in general is a career that is frowned upon and most families would not be very excited if their daughter said she would like to model,” she said. She said money is one of the reasons why the winners cannot make a huge impact during the reign and she wishes she could have done more. Her work with SOS Children’s Home is one of the assignments that she cherishes most. According to Nkandih, it was an experience very dear to her. “Hopefully, one day in future, I could go back and see what can still be done,” Nkandih said. She also said public interest is decreasing due to the fact that the winner is not doing enough to be noticed and considered relevant within her community and wishes that area improves. The support from the country could go a long way and help with lifting her morale when she has to participate for international competitions. “We need to come up with more projects that will have a lasting impression and will also have a long-term effect on the public and maybe then the public with start to take the winners more seriously." Nkandih also warned against the agencies that take advantage of their models and do not pay them or overwork them. She said it discourages young women who have the potential to make it far, but due to their circumstances; they are forced to give up. Miss Namibia 2014, Brumhilda Ochs:“My reign as Miss Namibia marked a shift in my life. It allowed me to discover and live my greatest passion which is to uplift motivate and inspire those that hurt silently,” Brumhilda Ochs said. A member of Christian Revival Church team and now a married woman, she has realised that not all seeds sown have the same harvest season. She added that it is our own responsibility as individuals passionate about pageantry, modelling and fashion to live to our fullest potential and says we should stop blaming the country for the slow pace of moving modelling industry. “I have seen one of the most beautiful sites at Miss World and the Miss Namibia pageant, where women of various skin colours come together as one,” she said. Modelling over the years has changed and it is no longer a ‘just for white women” pageant. Ochs also thanked Conny Maritz and ladies like Miss Namibia 2015 that won Miss World Sports Award for putting Namibia on the map. Currently training a few ladies to enter the Miss Namibia 2017 pageant, Ochs is grateful for everything she has learned during her reign and urges the next winner to maximise the opportunity to reach their full potential. TUNOHOLE MUNGOBA

Down memory lane with our beauties

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-02

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Down memory lane with our beauties

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-02

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