Sarah Van de Ruit wins slot in Face of Zimbabwe
Sarah Van de Ruit, a model signed with Model Management International has scooped the Miss May prize in the ongoing global pageant G Tel-Face of Zimbabwe competition, fending off challenges from close contender, Cynthia Qongo who finished as a runner up.
The Harare born beauty’s success follows last month’s crowning of Miss April, Cyprus based siren Lethukuthula Sibanda, a close relation of the iconic Miss Universe-Zimbabwe 1996, Langa Sibanda.
A former student of Peter House School in Marondera, Sarah has been a model since the age of 16 after being spotted by Judith Williams who runs Model Management International a leading modelling agency in Harare. Since then, she has been quietly notching top end modelling assignments in between her full time job as an accountant at a local firm.
The popular beauty received the highest public votes and the highest nominations from an experienced panel of Face of Zimbabwe judges. SA based model and actor, Melgin Tafirenyika who sits on the panel described Sarah as a “stunning beauty, a photographer’s dream and a strong contender for the Face of Zimbabwe 2013 crown”.
Another judge, UK based model Carol Kumbukani commended Sarah for her passionate display of love for her motherland and desire to represent the country in the competition. She added “Face of Zimbabwe is about finding the face that represents our beauty and diversity and Sarah captures the spirit of the competition”.
Face of Zimbabwe, which launched last year, has gained widespread international acclaim as a professionally run pageant in which the winners become active tourism and charity ambassadors in the community. The pageant recently signed a deal with G Telecoms, a leading supplier of mobile phone and accessories as the competition’s Headline sponsor for 2012.
The pageant has been highly successful in capturing the beauty of Zimbabweans of all colours scattered all over the world. The competition has so far fielded entries from Zimbabweans in more than 20 countries from as far as Turkey, Dubai, China, Canada, UK, USA, Botswana, Malawi, Cyprus and even Russia among others. A total of 12 highly contested monthly slots are available for the finals.
The Gtel – Face of Zimbabwe finals have been scheduled for the 15th of December at HICC in Harare. According to Mike Tashaya, the Face of Zimbabwe Marketing Director, some of the prizes for the winners will include “a university scholarship grant, a car and over $3000 cash for the winner among other prizes”.