When South Africa was banned from the Miss World pageant in 1978, the organisers of the Miss SA pageant were on the look-out for another international pageant for Miss SA to compete at. When the Miss Hawaiian Tropic International pageant began in 1984, the winner of the Miss SA pageant was sent to represent South Africa.
Miss SA (a runner-up in 1985) competed at Miss Hawaiian Tropic International until 1988 after which the decision was made not to send Miss SA to the pageant any longer since it was in essence a bikini pageant which was deemed unsuitable for the winner of the national pageant.
After 1988, South Africa was represented at Miss Hawaiian Tropic International on a number of occasions, but very few details are available.