It's been eight months since her Cinderella story unfolded.

And now Miss South Africa 2016, Ntandoyenkosi Kunene, is about to embark on another adventure, that of securing the Miss World and Miss Universe crowns for the nation.

Her first stop will be Washington DC in the US for Miss World next month and then Manila in the Philippines for Miss Universe in January.

She is a picture of poise, grace and class as she sits in the lounge of Lacuna restaurant when we meet at the Maslow Hotel in Sandton.

Her disarming smile and bright eyes light up as we exchange a warm hug, and not a handshake.

After spending so much time alone, she tells me, she has rediscovered herself. "Yes, you spend a lot of time alone as you travel from city to city. You are constantly with people but on your own. It can get lonely and you have to be comfortable with that."

And knowing herself will do her much good as she stands shoulder to shoulder with the glamazons from Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe to slug it out for the world crowns.

Kunene says she now knows that: "Ntando is an amazing girl who is calculated, takes very few or no risks, can be silly, loves to laugh and she is relaxed.

"I have always told myself that being unprepared must never be the reason I do not get something. You can never fault me on preparation. I will always come prepared."

As such, Miss SA Kunene works with fitness trainers even though her svelte figure doesn't look like it needs any panel beating. "I don't want to lose weight," she laughs. "I just want to keep my body healthy and fit, I think it's okay." She does a lot of sprinting, weights and her favourite, squatting.

Kunene is not one for diets too.

In fact, she tells me how much she loves cooking. Just last week, she says, she made pap and beef stew using her mother's trusted recipe. However, she confesses, it didn't turn out like mom's cooking.

She is consuming a lot of news to keep her general knowledge of the world high.

Kunene looks forward to the wardrobe she is taking to the competitions and appreciates that every day will be a fashion day with her carefully selected pieces that include designer Khosi Nkosi's creations, among many others.

Kunene gets animated when she talks about her passion for education and charitable work she has done this year. Her own project "Scarf, Beanie and Gloves" donated the winter essentials to some 2500 school children in Mpumalanga, North West, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal, and it's something she wants to continue with. Other beneficiaries of her acts of kindness include Hospice Wits and Project Khanya.

While her predecessors relied on mainstream media to be relevant, Kunene is social media savvy. She has just under 80000 followers on Instagram where she shares her daily experiences, fashion and hair looks as well as pearls of wisdom to motivate others.

She also uses Instagram as her "press conference" to announce her projects and it gives her a chance to be seen and be heard in the overcrowded celebrity scene.

A Wits University graduate, Kunene sees herself in the teaching space after her reign. "I'm so passionate about education. When my mind escapes it's to education and what can be done to enhance it."

She says her legacy is one of believing in one's dreams. "As a little girl I always believed that I would be Miss SA and on March 19, when I got crowned, it was a dream come true."

mofokengl@sowetan.co.za