The new queen bagged two titles at the elegant 2020 Tammy Taylor Mrs South Africa competition finale held at Emperors Palace, Kempton Park on Friday.
Businesswoman Ferns, 31, from Polokwane, Limpopo, was crowned both Mrs South Africa and honoured with the Mrs Charity Award for her contribution in Women4Women organisation, which aims to raise funds for girl children’s education and motivate positive development amongst women.
“The hardest thing about this journey was seeing the change that needs to be done in the country, I felt much hasn’t been changed or developed. As soon as you become part of charity or a development programme, you actually start seeing how much work needs to be done, not just with children but amongst women,” she said.
She was crowned alongside first princess Sandra Harmse and second princess Olwethu Nodada.
“Together with my princesses we will work as hard as we did throughout the journey to ensure that South African women feel in a better space because we have faced a lot this year, the killing of women should not be a norm and girl children should not face the kind of violence they do at the moment,” said Ferns.
Ferns is also on the director board of Ngwana Baby House, where they provide care for orphaned and abandoned children. She owns three businesses, which only hire women in order to empower them to believe in themselves and motivate one another.
She holds a degree in criminology from the University of Free State and she revealed that as she and her husband Lyndon, cannot have children, they decided to foster three boys.
“I am strong, passionate and ambitious. I represent the modern woman, a wife and a mother. I believe if we empower women around us we start a ripple effect of empowerment,” she said.
Ferns is scheduled to represent South Africa at the Mrs World pageant to be held in the US in December. The queen won R1m worth of prizes, including a Suzuki Vitara motor vehicle.
By Boitumelo Kgobotlo
kgobotlob@156.38.205.90
