The crowning of Demi-Leigh as Miss South Africa 2017 has ignited a hope for South Africa. Demi’s crowning has increased the probability of South Africa winning the Miss World crown. 21 year old beauty from Sedgefield said that she is determined to make a difference during her reign. And here is everything you should know about this newly crowned...

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In one of her interviews with a leading online magazine, Demi talked about her inspiration behind joining beauty pageant and said, “Cindy Nell has always been a woman I look up to.” Cindy Nell was Miss South Africa 2003 and was also the second runner-up at Miss Universe 2003. What Demi loves about Cindy is her unapologetically dynamic personality. She also talked about her role models in life and said that she has had people in her life that she had looked upto for strength in different stages of life.

She admires Marissa Mayer, the first female engineer and then CEO of Yahoo. She likes women who don’t just strive to be the equal to men, but also strive up to their full potential. She even has a message for all the young girls and says, “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible’. You are worthy, you matter and you are capable of more than you could ever dream of, all you have to do is try.”

Talking about her school life, Demi said that she was the first girl in her high school to be chosen as a head girl of both in her school and her hostel. She was also elected as the Deputy Junior Mayor of the George City Council while she was in 11th grade. “The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no-one else has ever been before.” – by Albert Einstein, is her favourite quote.

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In one of the previous interviews, Demi expressed her excitement on being crowned and said, “I vow to dedicate the next 365 days of my life to serve the people of South Africa, to be a voice to those who are afraid to, or cannot speak up and to represent the whole of our beautiful nation. I vow to listen, to be there, to help where I can and to recognise that we all want to be heard, we all want to be validated. I hear you, I see you, I am you!”