New heights for Miss SA

2004-12-12 23:24

Marida Fitzpatrick

Johannesburg - Claudia Henkel, the new Miss South Africa, has not always been the long-legged beauty who knocked people's breath away on Saturday evening.

"I also went through a stage were I was clumsy and insecure. I had braces at school, and I was shy about my height," the six-foot blonde said on Sunday.

Henkel, who was born in Pretoria and matriculated at Pretoria Girls' High, says she quickly realised her height counted in her favour when she started modelling.

Her long legs ensured her the Miss Veet Legs title. Thoko Qoboza, spokesperson for the organiser Sun International, said it's only the second time in the history of this beauty pageant that the same woman conquered both titles.

"When I heard I'm Miss Legs, I thought: oh no, I lost!" Henkel laughed.

Henkel says she has coveted the title of Miss South Africa ever since she was a little girl.

"I remember watching the crowning on TV with my parents every year," she said.

The second of three sisters, Henkel is part of a very close family.

Her father, Irmin, is an ear, nose and throat specialist at the Pretoria East hospital, and her mother, Linda, looks after a business on their smallholding in Pretoria-east.

Although she is crazy about the glamour of the beauty and modelling world, her two elegant feet are firmly rooted, she says.

"I don't want people to put me on a pedestal. I'm a normal person."

For this reason, beauty and modelling are not the only plans she has for the future. Claudia also has a passion for the law.

She successfully completed her second year in law, with her name appearing on the dean's merit list.

Her studies will have to wait next year for her Miss South Africa duties.

"But the year thereafter, I will definitely continue.

Beauty does not last forever."

- Beeld