Joanne Strauss

Born and raised in Cape Town, this Stellenbosch University graduate holds a B.Comm Law degree – and that’s on top of her glamorous globe-trotting accomplishments, which include representing South Africa at the Miss World Pageant in Puerto Rico and modelling alongside supermodels Naomi Campbell, KateMoss, Elle McPherson and Helena Christensen in Barcelona.

But, that was just the start of the meteoric career ofSouth Africa’s darling Jo-Ann Strauss. She presented the popular Afrikaans magazine show “Pasella” for four years before moving onto “Top Billing” – Mzantsi’s glamorous offering.

As one of the presenters on TopBilling, Jo-Ann has been the guest of Miramax at the Sundance Film Festival, attended Elton John’s Fundraising concert in Vienna and has interviewed Charlize Theron, Antonia Banderas, George Clooney and Bono from U2 – among others.

She’s graced the covers of most of South Africa’s top magazines, won the Duku Duku Award for most stylish female presenter and has received numerous nominations andawards for best presenter.

As one of South Africa’s top female MCs, Jo-Ann is in high demand as a host for prestigious events, among the most memorable being President Thabo Mbeki’s “Transformation” events, during which Jo-Ann and President Mbeki co-delivered the keynote address.

She has also hosted the International Islamic Finance and Investment Conference, which was attended by the President of Malaysia, and the World Conference on Computers in Education.