Pageant queen Angelique Hendricks never thought that she would one day be a model, but her drive won her the title of Miss Cape Town 2018.
Angelique, fondly known as Angie, took the title at the Southern Sun The Cullinan hotel last year.
“My dream was to become a runway model, but I am way too short, so I decided to go into pageants, because there is a platform for everyone, and pageants focus on what you can give back to your community, not solely on looks.”
Angie grew up in Kewtown, where she lived all her life. While growing up, she developed a love for dance and did ballet and contemporary dance with the Eoan Group.
“I danced for the late Madiba, Thabo Mbeki, and the Rugby World Cup when it was hosted in South Africa,” she said.
“I’ve always been someone to help others. When I was a child, I used to take in stray animals or feed all the animals in my street. I also started teaching children to dance when I got older, to keep them from engaging in anti-social behaviour.”
During her last days at school, Angie fell ill with a lung disease and also developed a bacterial infection in her stomach, but she still passed matric.
“After school, I didn’t know what to do with my life. I wanted to teach, but I couldn’t get into university, and all my friends were studying, so I went into a state of depression, and my hair started falling out as a result of alopecia.”
Through all of this, Angie kept teaching the children in the community, and when her hair slowly started growing back, she decided to enter Miss Cape Town.
“At first I didn’t win, but I told myself I will enter again because this time I knew what to expect. My self-esteem was bruised because of my hair falling out. I didn’t want to be seen like that, but I decided to enter anyway, and this time I won.”
She was very proud of herself but suffered another setback when she developed eczema just after she won.
“I’ve never had eczema before, and I went off the radar for a few months because my skin was so bad, and I felt ashamed.”
However, she picked herself up again and got the treatment she needed and started fulfilling her duties as the Role Models Foundation’s Miss Cape Town, which included creating awareness about different charities, finding sponsors for feeding schemes and necessities, and being a Miss Cape Town ambassador.
She now works at the Forensics Science Lab and is studying environmental management part-time.
She said one of the reasons she had entered the pageant was to dispel some of the myths around who could be a model.
“I am way too short to model, but I want to show girls out there that there is a platform for everything. You don’t have to be tall and skinny anymore.
“The plus-sized model industry is growing every day. Soon there will be this evolution. There is a category for everyone, so they mustn’t be discouraged.”
And while dancing is not her primary focus at the moment, she still teaches dance to the children in her community and even helps them with their homework when they need it.
“Sometimes, when their families struggle a bit, I try to help by finding sponsors for uniforms or stationery. It isn’t easy, but I do whatever I can to uplift my community.”
She said while there were many opportunities for modelling, that she felt there should be more pageants.
“Girls out there shouldn’t let their looks and circumstances define them – I didn’t.”
Angie will be handing over the title to the next Miss Cape Town at The Cullinan hotel on Saturday May 25.
“This is not the last Cape Town will see of me. I’m planning to enter more pageants, so watch this space,” she said.