South Africa was banned from the Miss World pageant from 1978 until 1990 because of it's apartheid policies. Since this is a blog about pageants, I am not going to discuss the merits of the ban, but merely the would-a, could-a, should-a outcomes had the reigning Miss SA been allowed to compete at Miss World during that period.South Africa has always been a part of the Commonwealth, and I suppose it stands to reason that the Miss World pageant would have been the preferred pageant at which Miss SA competed. Since the Miss Universe pageant received very little coverage in South Africa prior to 1978, I only became aware of the fact that the Miss Universe pageant is far more slick and professional, and the title more sought-after when I started doing research in the early 80's.
I am also working on the assumption that, had SA not been banned from Miss World, Miss SA would have competed at Miss World and not Miss Universe from 1978 to 1990. Let's, for a minute, forget that we experienced the joy of watching Margaret Gardiner, Veronica Wilson, Odette Scrooby and Leticia Snyman grace the stage at Miss Universe, and concentrate on the winners of the official Miss SA title. This is all hypothetical, so don't get your knickers in a perm. I realise that there are many variables to be considered, so let's move on.
Of the twelve Miss SA's that were affected by the ban (there was no Miss SA pageant in 1983 so that screws with my hypothesis), the following six Miss SA's would, in my opinion, most definitely have held the flag high at Miss World: Andrea Stelzer, Suzette van der Merwe, Karen Sickle, Sandra de Meyer, Sandy McCormack and Lorna Potgieter.
Ok! From the previous post, I suppose you've concluded that I am a great fan of Andrea Stelzer. Whilst I thought the girl from Iceland in 1985 was a fantastic choice, I definitely think that Andrea would have been standing right next to her in 2nd place at least. When Andrea attempted to enter Miss World as Miss Germany in 1988, Julia Morley blocked her entry citing the "she had been Miss SA" and "she's too old" rules. Now everyone with two brain cells knows that Julia Morley waived those rules when it suited her and allowed other "25 year old grannies" to compete. And many former entrants with dual-nationality had been allowed to compete even though they had participated in the national pageants of both the countries for which they qualified. Andrea was a "threat" in 1988 just as she would have been in 1985.
Suzette van der Merwe was as gorgeous then as she is now. Let's forget that she applies her make-up with a spatula at times, and think of the beauty underneath all the facial gunk. She would most definitely have made the Top 5 in 1990 given the quality of entrants that year. I liked the Top 3 and would have placed her 4th.
Whilst she would have struggled to crack the Top 5 in 1979, I personally think that Karen Sickle would have been a shoo-in for the Final 7 that year. She was most definitely prettier than the Austrian and Brazilian girls that occupied those last two places, and could have unseated the Swiss girl in 5th place.
Much has been written about the drab Virgin Queen, Mariasela Lebron, that won in 1982, but the other 6 finalists were top class and Sandra de Meyer could have cracked the Top 7 with a bit of a shove.
Whilst a Final 7 placement would have been a tough assignment, I believe that Lorna Potgieter and Sandy McCormack would have made Top 15 in 1984 and 1986 respectively. They had both made the Top 5 at the lowly Miss Hawaiian Tropic pageant, and I am certain they could have been semi-finalists at Miss World as well.
Sadly all of this is just a figment of my imagination and never happened.