21-year-old student Marilyn Ramos was crowned Miss South Africa 2012 at the Sun City Superbowl Sunday, 9 December 2012. The title of Second Princess went to 24-year-old marketing manager Pearl Nxele and 23-year-old lawyer Stacey Webb took the title of First Princess. While the judges regarded the three of them as royalty, the contestants preferred 20-year-old Capetonian Danelle de Wet who won the title of Miss Congeniality.

The ceremony aired live on Mzansi Magic and started by following the 12 finalists into the dressing room in their final moments just before the ceremony.  Celebrities on the red carpet can easily upstage the finalists and would definitely have done so this year when it came to the evening gowns. The gowns were designed by Gideon and they all looked the same, with a flicker of variety here and there.

The final 12 could have improved them by adding a lot more personality to their struts and walks but the gowns themselves should have been more dynamic too. As a result the gowns take third place in our Top 3 lowlights of the night.

The highlights of the evening included: the swimwear catwalk, Zakes Bantwini’s accompanying dance moves, the prominence of Zwai and Loyiso Bala’s brother Phelo and the question posed to each of the final five: “What’s the most underrated thing about South Africa?”