A new Miss World South Africa has been crowned

Romanda Hombir has been crowned Miss World South Africa 2026, earning the opportunity to represent the country at the 75th Miss World Festival in Vietnam after winning the national title on Mandela Day, 18 July, at the Barnyard Theatre in Pretoria.

According to Miss World, the 27-year-old clinical audiologist, motivational speaker and model from KaNyamazane, Mpumalanga, succeeds Zoalise Jansen van Rensburg. She will represent South Africa at the international pageant, which takes place from 9 August to 5 September in Vietnam, according to Miss World.

According to Miss World, Hombir is of Swati, Zulu and German heritage. She is also the founder of the Caring Purpose Foundation, a non-profit organisation that works to improve access to healthcare, literacy, nutrition, mobile health screenings and skills development in underserved communities. Her advocacy also raises awareness of women’s health conditions, including endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome and fibroids.

The organisation described Hombir as an ‘audiologist and community health advocate’ whose ‘Beauty With a Purpose project centres on making healthcare more accessible while empowering young people through education, skills development and community upliftment‘ (Miss World).

Hombir is no stranger to the competition. She was named second runner-up at Miss World South Africa 2024 before returning to claim this year’s national title, according to Miss World.

‼️The Update‼️

Meet your newly crowned Miss Universe South Africa 2026 & Miss World South Africa 2026#MissUniverse #MissWorld #pageantry #fypシ pic.twitter.com/MTGJ7ZbRl2

Nozipho M (@nozipho_mashaba) July 18, 2026

Her crowning has also prompted discussion on X, where some users questioned her surname and heritage, drawing comparisons with last year’s public debate surrounding former Miss South Africa finalist Chidimma Adetshina.

Among the posts circulating online, independent news platform PSAFLIVE wrote: ‘People have begun to ask which tribe Hombir comes from in South Africa and why the beauty pageant organisers are forcing non-South Africans to compete.’ (@PSAFLIVE on X).

BEAUTY PAGEANT SPARKS ONLINE DEBATE AGAIN OVER AN UNRECOGNISED SURNAME

Romanda Hombir was crowned Miss World South Africa.

People have begun to ask which tribe Hombir comes from in South Africa and why the beauty pageant organisers are forcing non-South Africans to compete. pic.twitter.com/s7SwWCsNoC

PSAFLIVE (@PSAFLIVE) July 20, 2026

Others rejected those claims. Responding to the discussion, X user Mlunghisi Shivamba (@ChiskopAndSmile) wrote: ‘Are we really going to scrutinize every surname because it’s not familiar?! Nah man come on … what is this now ethnic cleansing?!!’

 

The Miss World organisation has identified Hombir as South Africa’s official representative for the international competition, where she will compete alongside contestants from around the world when the festival begins in Vietnam next month.