BEAUTY AND THE JOCKEY OF PATRIA JULY

July 31, 2026 40

Amari Maré & Caitlyn Miles

@amari.mare & @kaitlynmiles123

Makeup, hair, dresses, coffee and wine along with the dust, blood, sweat and tears of the Patria’s horses and jockeys. The annual Patria July event took place on the 25th of July 2026.

In previous years Patria July was an internal event of Patria Men’s Residence, although with hard work and determination the event grew to the concert it is currently known for. This committee is seen as exclusive, and men within the residence must be chosen to be a part of this committee. Jehoshua de Bruin, one of the organisers of Patria July, describes that he wants people to enjoy themselves and come back the next year.

De Bruin explained that the Miss Patria July pageant is a chance to show the women in their lives how much they appreciate them. During the Miss Patria July period, the Patria gentlemen carried the women on their hands with pride and gentleness.

Miss Patria July, one of the most renowned pageants in Potchefstroom student culture, has crowned its queen: Danica Cronje, a pageant professional who won the hearts of Potchefstroom. Despite being a pageant, crowned winner Danica Cronje and second runner-up Zandri Du Plessis describe the event as a journey of personal growth rather than a competition of looks, their journey one of character, support, and giving new meaning to the crown.

For Cronje, competing for Dinki Ladies Residence, Miss Patria July was a journey of forging through fire. “The three words I would use to describe my theme for Miss Patria July would be confidence through authenticity,” she said.

Although Cronje has competed in many pageants before, she explained that confidence was and has always been a struggle and that on the stage, a mountain of nerves waited for her. For her, this pageant was about remaining humble and growing from the inside out with grace. She explained that by staying true to her roots and being surrounded by support from friends, family, and her residence, she came to understand confidence and herself in a new light. “Confidence isn’t about being perfect all the time,” she says. “It’s about being yourself with grace and humility,” she explained.

For Cronje, the crown resembles more than a pageant win, but a reminder that fear does not negate confidence, but rather, it forges courage. “I thought my pageant days were behind me, but it felt unreal to hear my name. I am glad I pushed myself and proved to myself what I am capable of.”

Zandri Du Plessis, competing for Klawerhof Ladies’ Residence, also won the personality category. For her, Miss Patria July was a celebration of her growth. She explained, “I was so calm the week before, even the day of, and that really showed me I had grown as a person. Winning wasn’t even on my mind.”

Du Plessis shared that her social media presence was what she was most proud of. The creativity and challenge it created for her to present herself and her personal brand online while remaining authentic and captivating was a delight to her. “Personality is such a meaningful award because it reflects who you are beyond what people see on stage,” she said.

For the contestants of Miss Patria July 2026, the pageant became much more than style, stage presence, and a crown. It became a celebration of personal achievement, of challenges, and of humility, where inner growth was the reward. “I was surrounded by a group of special girls who allowed me to be myself and loved me for it,” Du Plessis says.

Miss Patria, July 2025, Larissa Klopper explained that she was so glad she could be a part of the process again, even if it was just speaking to the women about confidence, what to expect and planning logistics. Klopper stated, “You can admire someone’s beauty without questioning your own.” This was her wish for the contestants, to have a good bond between them, which she witnessed when they cheered each other on.

Patria July has become a centre point of student concerts, although Patria still wants to keep an original part of what they started as. The horse race consists of the four corridors of Patria Men’s residence, where two horses and two jockeys are chosen from the four corridors. On the day of Patria July, the horse race is held, where the jockey jumps on the horse’s back and races against another team around a track. These horse races are unique to Patria July and a reminder of where it all began as an internal event.

The four corridors of Patria are Mol’s Hol, which believes that if you can’t go over, you go under, meaning there’s more than one way to do something. This corridor definitely had the most spirit and support. The audience showed their support by making an “M” symbol with the three middle fingers over their hearts and shouting “mooi” really loud. The molle says that the word “mooi” is a versatile word that can describe anything.

The second corridor is the Mexican corridor, Commancheros, better known as the Commas. The horses and jockeys that represented the corridor were P.J. du Toit, George Marais, Corné du Plooy, and André Kruger. According to the guys, they were chosen for their “pig heart”. They describe it as a guy who’s open to everything and won’t show mercy to the competing team.

Louis van Deventer, Jonathan van der Merwe, Franco Cilliers, and Gustav Grotius represented the third corridor, Ophiuchus. The team tackled the race with a clear strategy: ‘Grab the collar and pull.’ Apparently, this strategy had been successful for the past two years, although this year, the Molle took the title from them.

The last corridor, Pastas, and their participants Armand Janse van Rensburg, Carl Maré, Muller Bisschoff, and Eloff de Kock made it to the semi-finals this year, which was a lot better than last year’s last-place finish.

Whether you went to support the beauty pageant, the concert or just wanted a good laugh from the horse race, Patria July made history again.