Hartbeespoort beauty, 16-year-old Kea Ledwaba was crowned as Miss Pre-Teen South Africa 2022.
Kea received her crown during the gala event in June.
For this Grade 10 student at Mountain Cambridge School, it is important not to be seen as a beauty queen. “People may regard me as pretty, but I also have brains and it is important that people keep in mind that the pageant is not just about a pretty face,” she says. Kea is in the top 5 academic achievers in her grade and considers studying accounting after finishing school. “I still have time to decide.”
She never thought of modelling or beauty pageants but, she did a modelling stint during the South African Championship of Performing Arts and to her surprise liked it. When the pageant came up, friends suggested I entered and my parent said ‘just do it!”
“I had lots of fun. I had to do a fundraising project to raise funds for less privileged community members, especially children.” Being an accomplished and passionate dancer, Kea chose a pre-school in a needy community where she taught the children to dance and eventually presented a concert with which she raised funds. “When I began thinking about how to raise money, the first thing that came to mind was to use my talents and passions. I am passionate about the arts, because of its positive impact on my confidence and the number of opportunities it has given me. It was this that inspired me to see children from disadvantaged backgrounds have access to dance classes, which, in most cases, are very expensive. I chose the “Bopanang Early Childhood Development Forum” from Atteridgeville as my charity. I loved doing it, and I will go back and continue with the project. It was so heartwarming to see how dancing lifted the children’s spirit.”
She believes in being passionate about things you believe in. “Passion creates creativity.”
However, at the moment there is no time for other passions than her studies. She is currently busy with IGCSE university entrance examinations, and she mostly keeps her nose buried in school books. “I would like to pursue modelling once again after I finish school, but for now academics come first. I study hard, I work hard and I play hard. One must keep a balance in life.”