VICE FASHION - MISS SOUTH AFRICA
Photos by David Yeo
Assisted by Alexander Benjaminsen
Styling by Saffron Hunt and Eleanor Green
Hair & Make-up by Clair Montgomery
Special thanks to Face Of South Africa. www.faceofsa.com
Green hooded dress by Tom Wolfe, jeans by Duck and Cover, vintage sailor
shawl by Ophelia Fancy, sneaks by PF Flyers, jewels stylist’s own
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Maruzaan, 24
Hometown: Johannesburg
Occupation: Teacher with special needs children
Likes: Charity, fighting injustice
Dislikes: Being away from South Africa. |
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I’m a teacher and, like most of the girls in this shoot, a contestant in the Face Of South Africa beauty contest. I miss South Africa. I miss the weather and the sand. I miss my friends and family. At the moment, there’s a lot more opportunity in England than South Africa so that’s why I’m here. If I were to win the beauty contest I’d use the position to help children in South Africa with AIDS. I hate to see children suffering. I don’t know anybody who has AIDS so it hasn’t affected me personally but I want to help people. Nowadays it’s affecting both races. |
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Blue ra ra dress from Beyond Retro, red vest by Golddigga,
white rope belt from Beyond Retro, necklace stylist’s own
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Marike, 22
Hometown: Amsterdam, SA
Occupation: Nanny and part-time model
Likes: Rugby
Dislikes: Football |
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I finished my exams in high school and three days after that I came to London. I’ve been here for four and a half years. I was working in a Chinese factory. It was awful. Some mornings I’d start at three, cutting vegetables.
I would go out at night and then I’d walk to the job in the morning with my make-up smudged. If I was one minute late then they would dock my wages.
I’ve been mugged in London and there is a lot of scary crime, especially in certain areas. But it’s not like South Africa. It is unsafe there but hopefully in the next few years we can, like, do something. We’re trying to get crime down. Hopefully it will get better. I miss all my family a lot.
The football hooligans here are scary. Some younger kids in Canada Water attacked us recently. They threw eggs at us. They were screaming: “Come on baby, get in bed with me.” |
Leopard print swimsuit from Beyond Retro, denim skirt by Levi’s, knickers by Ophelia Fancy, gold belt by Tatty Devine, bamboo earrings by ladyluckrulesok.com
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Jennifer, 24
Hometown: Johannesburg
Occupation: Bank worker
Likes: WWE Wrestling
Dislikes: English guys |
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I’ve been here for four years. In South Africa I always felt quite scared with people coming up to me and stealing my bag at places like the airport.
In London, if a girl gets raped it still makes headline news. If a girl gets raped in South Africa it doesn’t. There’s a one-in-four chance of being raped there. If you’re African, the chances are one-in-two. I grew up in a location quite near to the trouble. It is quite serious. You have to think: “Is it safe to go out?” and, “What is this person capable of?”
I knew a girl who was raped by a guy she knew. He used to ask her where she lived all the time. They even grew up together. I couldn’t believe he was capable of it.
What I’ve seen in South Africa over the past few years has changed my views on people. When they used to talk about black people and say they all used to rob and steal I didn’t pay attention to it. But when I worked for the Bank Of Amsterdam I was in a banking raid and it totally changed me. I shut down completely. They are capable of things you can’t imagine. They spent more time beating us than taking the cash. I was terrified. When people used to tell me they had to go and seek help after being attacked or whatever I used to laugh at them. After that happened to me I had to go and see a psychiatrist.
Here there is a different way to live. Here, you have the freedom to walk down the street. |
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Pink swimsuit from Beyond Retro, denim shorts by Grab, fannypack by Eastpak, gold stilettos from Beyond Retro
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Elzane, 26
Hometown: Johannesburg
Occupation: Music teacher
Likes: Helping children
Dislikes: English weather |
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I moved here in February 2003. I don’t know how long I’m supposed to stay here. The best thing is that I’ve gained a lot of experience. It’s experience I couldn’t get in South Africa. It works different there these days.
I play viola and teach music. It depends what you’re looking for in life. With crime, it all depends on whether you become a statistic of it. You have to take safety precautions. You have to be more alert when you’re at home. We all have security cameras so if something goes wrong you can follow it up.
Like most of the girls in this shoot, I’m a contestant in the Face Of South Africa beauty contest. I want to raise money to help children because they are the future of the world. |
Check shirt by J.Lindeberg, white jog pants by American Apparel, black bodysuit by American Apparel, belt by Pacha, brooch by ladyluckrulesok.com, boots stylist’s own
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Janet, 22
Hometown: Johannesburg
Occupation: Teacher
Likes: The viola
Dislikes: Bratty english kids |
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The crime situation in South Africa is not improving. All they can do is steal because it’s the only way to make a living. They have no choice. It’s not improving. I’m glad to be here but I’m not happy to get away from South Africa and I’d go back there in a second if there were an opportunity for me. Black empowerment means that you have to be disadvantaged to be high up in the list for jobs. Whites are not previously disadvantaged. If you saw a list it would go: “Black male, black female, white female and white male.”
Because of the crime, most people have dogs and barbed wire around their house. Most popular are Rottweilers and Alsatians. I only had a Daschund. I suppose it could bite their ankles or something. |
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Blue shorts by J.Lindeberg, cream pleat top by Duck and Cover, black & gold bikini by American Apparel, accessories stylist’ own
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Redd, 23
Hometown: Capetown
Occupation: Porno film stylist
Likes: Freedom
Dislikes: Rude people |
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I moved here because I’d had enough. I got stabbed in the neck a month before I left. That was the last straw. I just wanted to get out and I didn’t know where to go. I didn’t care where I went.
I was stuck in rush hour traffic on my way to work and there was a street kid that I used to give food to. He came up to the window for a chat but I told him I didn’t have anything to give him that day. The next thing I know, he’s going for my necklace. Most jewellery doesn’t come off just by pulling it so he couldn’t get it off and that’s when the knife came out and I was stabbed in the back of the neck.
Usually they get bigger guys to come out, the smaller kids give the jewellery to the bigger guys and run off. I was also burgled. I shot him in the knee with a PPK. I wasn’t arrested. I live on the first floor; he climbed up on the tree to get on the balcony. I shot him and he fell out of the tree.
That’s what I like about London. It’s safer. You can walk around and you might get mugged but that’s about it. Bad things happen wherever you go in the world, but in London I can walk down the street wearing jewellery. In South Africa I try and look as poor as I possibly can. |
Bodysuit by American Apparel, black joggers by Golddigga, belt by Pacha, shoes stylist’s own, brooch by ladyluckrulesok.com
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Fiona, 23
Hometown: Johannesburg
Occupation: Bar work
Likes: The smell of sausages on the barbecue
Dislikes: English guys |
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I love living in London. I’ve worked in a couple of bars while I’ve been here. I prefer the company of South African guys and Australian guys to English guys though. We have a lot more in common with them than the English.
My home town of Johannesburg is bad at the moment. I wouldn’t walk on the streets. That’s why there’s so many of us in London. I heard that there are 14,000 new South Africans in Southfields alone.
We had a house but we had high walls and an electric fence. The hugest business in South Africa is security firms. It’s crazy. Not so long ago, my friend got raped in a shopping centre. She went to the toilet and there was a guy in there and he strangled her and raped her. People are capable of such terrible things. |
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Leaf top by Paul Smith, sneaks by PF Flyers, shorts stylist’s own, necklace by Tatty Devine
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Candice, 21
Hometown: Nigel, Johannesburg
Occupation: Receptionist
Likes: Having fun
Dislikes: Crime |
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I came here because I wanted to throw myself in at the deep end and see if I could swim. Also, in England you don’t have the threat of being attacked all the time. In South Africa it’s not like you walk out of your house and you’re suddenly attacked, but the chances of it happening are much greater. If you stop at traffic lights, you’ll get hi-jacked five out of ten times. They’ll just stand by the robot looking like they’re selling stuff but they’ll be out to steal your phone or your wallet. They broke into my house three times. They stole as much as they could. They ripped the cupboards apart and removed everything valuable. They took my jewellery and all my CDs. My friend’s parents were shot and killed outside their bakery.
People have laser beams in their house that go into every corner of the room. People will have them in a certain part of their house, like a corridor, and they’ll have to turn them on and off to walk through the house. |
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