How model with hearing disability triumphed at Miss South Africa

Mia Le Roux, winner of Miss South Africa 2024, was diagnosed with profound hearing loss when she was a year old.

A profound hearing loss is the inability to hear anything higher than 91 decibels, such as lawnmowers, fireworks, or sirens.

The model, 28, who worked as a marketing manager for a start-up company prior to entering the competition, uses a cochlear implant to assist with her hearing.

“I am a proud South African deaf woman and know what it feels to be excluded. But thanks to the Miss South Africa Organization, I have a foot in the world of the included, and I want to build a bridge between those two worlds,” she said after winning the crown on Saturday.

During the competition, the moderators and judges had to speak without using microphones when addressing Mia or asking her questions.

They had to face her directly and speak on a low level. They also had to speak clearly and slowly without shouting or exaggerating mouth movements.

“Every little girl out there who has felt different because they are not what society expects them to be will realise they are so wildly capable, just like I am,” Mia said in a post on Instagram.

She gets a cash prize of $53,371, a Mercedes Benz, and a furnished luxury apartment as the winning prize.

The Miss South Africa pageant was dogged with controversy after 23-year-old law student Chidimma Adetshina was declared one of the finalists on July 1.

Critics strongly called on the authorities and the Miss South Africa pageant organisers to investigate if she was truly South African.

Adetshina eventually withdrew from the pageant on August 8 after the Home Affairs Ministry alleged her mother may have committed identity fraud.

Winner Le Roux will now represent her country at Miss Universe 2024 and will be the first woman with a physical disability on the Miss Universe stage.

Le Roux says she plans on promoting inclusivity and accessibility for people with disabilities during her reign.

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