Cynthia Shange, widely regarded as the first Black woman to represent South Africa at the Miss World pageant, has died aged 76 following an illness. Shange competed in the 1972 Miss World contest in London under the banner of Miss Africa South — a parallel competition created for Black women who were barred from entering Miss South Africa under the country's apartheid system (a institutionalised regime of racial segregation enforced from 1948 until the early 1990s) — and finished fifth. Beyond her pioneering role in beauty pageantry, Shange built a decades-long acting career, with credits including Udeliwe, considered one of South Africa's first Black feature films, and the historical drama Shaka Zulu; her death was announced by her daughter, actress Nonhle Thema, on social media.