Mrs SA finalist joins Knysna charity run

KNYSNA NEWS - Mrs South Africa 2020 hopeful Natalie Jordaan made a pit stop in Knysna last weekend to take part in the KnysnaX Sporting Events Cupid Run to raise funds for charity.

Jordaan is a Top 25 finalist in the Mrs SA 2020 competition, which was originally scheduled to conclude in November 2020, but has been delayed severely due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Born in Bonn, Germany to South African parents, 35-year-old Jordaan has called many a country home over the years. She spent part of her childhood in Namibia after returning from Germany, before moving to Paarl to complete her schooling at La Rochelle Girls High School.

Jordaan went on to study art, design and photography at Stellenbosch Academy before obtaining a degree in international relations through the University of South Africa (Unisa), after having travelled the world and developing a passion for the topic. She then moved to China to obtain her master's degree in international relations at Shandong University.

Since then, most of her professional life has been spent between Shanghai and Hong Kong, with the latter being the birthplace of her two children Francoise (6) and Zenith (3). Jordaan eventually moved back to Stellenbosch early last year before the outbreak of the pandemic in South Africa, and in February 2020 began her Mrs South Africa journey.

The journey has been special for Jordaan thus far. "It's been an interesting journey, and so enriching. A lot of people have said to me 'Oh, you chose the worst year to enter something like this', but I feel that this, for me, was the best year to do so," she said.

"Bearing in mind, my whole life I had built up since Hong Kong and the last five years in Shanghai fell apart with Covid-19, so I feel that if I didn't have this amazing programme to push me through this year, I don't know what I would have done with myself."

Mrs SA finalist Natalie Jordaan took on the Cupid Run and had fun throughout.

While still a semi-finalist in the competition, Jordaan received sponsorship from Fernwood Estate in Knysna, which is what led to her meeting up with the team from KnysnaX Sporting Events. She was invited to attend KnysnaX's opening run in December, but it was cancelled, so she was in turn invited to take part in the Cupid Run, a 5km run around the Pezula Championship Course.

The run took place on Saturday 13 February, and Jordaan used it as an opportunity to raise funds for the Mrs SA charity, Women4Women (W4W).

"There are a few businesses including Stellenbosch Academy and Thoclor Labs who promised to donate funds per kilometre that I run, and these funds will go towards life skills courses that W4W provides to young girls from impoverished backgrounds," Jordaan said.

She not only took part and completed the run, she did so twice, as she knew every kilometre she ran, the more money was raised. "The second run was actually much easier than the first, and being able to raise funds for W4W was amazing. The run was amazing, and I hope to visit Knysna again some day and maybe even do some charity work here too," she said.

The next and last step in her journey will be the finals of the Mrs SA 2020 competition on 18 March.

Photos: Blake Linder