2020 marks the 10th year of SARIE’s competition where readers pick a South African woman for their cover. The latest competition added an extra category for a new face, being the SARIE Nuwe Gesig competition.

The addition aimed to give high school students from grade 10 to 12 (16 to 18-years-old) the chance to be part of the search for a cover face that's not a celebrity or someone well known.

Applicants had to send three entry photos and they had to 'work some magic' online. The magazine says that when the entries opened on Friday, 17 April the competition took off on social media platforms; since then, people have not stopped sharing.

From Friday, 17 April to Sunday, 31 May the SARIE cover page website attracted a total of 1 026 883 page views and 238 250 users. The magazine says that 32.13% of the website traffic came from Instagram.

Announcement of the finalists

On Wednesday, 1 July SARIE announced the 'Nuwe Gesig Top 30'. The finalists were a combination of social media stars and new faces. The 'Top 10' was announced in the August edition of SARIE, which was the Women's Month issue with Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi on the cover.

From Friday, 21 August, the September issue will be available on store shelves. It will be available in two sizes: the size that everyone knows, as well as a 'handbag' version. The first winner of SARIE Nuwe Gesig will appear on the cover of the smaller version. 

Readers will also be able to choose from four scarf designs, each with SARIE's call for 2020, '#JyIsGenoeg' ('#YouAreEnough').

The magazine has announced that the winner of its new competition is Jonadrie van Aardt, a matric learner at Jan van Riebeeck High School. The school's principal, Lizette Visser, got the learners' attention on the school's intercom system just after 08:00 on Friday, 14 August.

After that, SARIE editor Michélle van Breda asked Jonadrie to join her outside the classroom so she could see what her cover looked like. 

According to Annemie Lombard, SARIE's digital editor, some finalists had fantastic entry photos spoke, while others elaborated on their story on social media platforms and lived out SARIE's 2020 call.

"Jonadrie did both; she chatted with us on social media throughout the process, plus her entry photos immediately caught our attention," says Lombard.

During the competition period, Jonadrie communicated with her followers on Instagram and Facebook almost daily using original, energetic entries. These included opinion polls to cute pics and videos.

In one video, for example, she gave a make-up lesson that only takes 15 minutes to complete. In another, she motivates her fellow learners not to lose heart.

"A friend told me that if you want something you've never had, you have to do something you never have. And look at the result," she concludes.

Jonadrie has won a year's worth of teenage skincare treatments from the Isa Carstens Academy and a cash prize of R10 000 from Afrikaans.com to celebrate the 10 years of the SARIE Voorbladgesig competition.

For more information, visit www.netwerk24.com. You can also follow SARIE magazine on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.