Mia le Roux: ‘I can’t communicate in crowded rooms’
The Oudtshoorn beauty queen, Mia le Roux tells Sowetan that she needs to be catered for in how she communicates.
“The challenge I face is that I communicate differently, and I need to be catered for in how I communicate,” she admits.
“I cannot communicate in crowded rooms as everything becomes one noise. One-on-one is better and clear. There is also no need to over-enunciate. Just speak clear, look at me in the face so I can read your lips,” she adds.
The publication adds that Le Roux has a cochlear implant and uses specialised technology integrated into her smartphone, which enables her to respond to interview questions for upcoming interviews.
The 28-year-old was crowned the new Miss South Africa in Pretoria on Saturday, 10 August. She beat Nompumelelo Maduna and Onalenna Constantin.
MISS SA: ‘I KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE EXCLUDED’
The newly crowned Miss SA Mia le Roux also reveals that she’s a proud South African deaf woman.
“I’m a proudly South African deaf woman. I know what it’s like to be excluded. But thanks to the Miss SA organisation, I have a foot in the world of the included. I want to build a bridge between those two worlds,” she says.
“As your Miss South Africa, I want to partner with the government, corporate South Africa and anyone to help, to help the excluded from financial exclusion. To being differently abled, to achieve their wildest dreams, just like I am tonight,” she concluded.
Stephanie Weil, who is the CEO of Miss SA Organisation also tells the publication that Le Roux’s story has never been seen in Miss SA and the pageantry world.
Weil adds that the new Miss SA embodies the Miss South Africa Organisation’s ethos that if you can dream it, you can achieve it.