YOUNG girls suffering from life-threatening diseases were crowned Queen for a Day in Sandton on Friday by Miss South Africa 2011, Bokang Montjane, and actress Hlubi Mboya

Montjane and Mboya posed for photos and signed autographs - and crowned the winning girls.

Montjane encouraged the mothers to carry on standing by their daughters though it was difficult.

"The confidence I have today I got from my parents. So please carry on being soldiers to your children, no matter how hard," she said.

The Queen for a Day is a Reach for a Dream Foundation initiative that crowns girls as queens for a day and helps reinforce how special and beautiful they are.

It allows them to escape the hospital environment and forget their illnesses - just for a day.

A little girl suffering from cancer had her face made up and took photos with Montjane.

"This has been a memorable day. I got pampered and made new friends. I also got to see Miss South Africa. I will never forget this day and will treat myself as a queen every day," she said.

The Reach for a Dream Foundation grants four wishes every day to children with life-threatening diseases.

"We have been operating for 23 years. We engage with children whose lives are threatened. We make their dreams come true," vice president Mervyn Serebro said.