At 17, Joyce Malindi won her first beauty contest under the restrictions of the apartheid practicing South Africa. Fifty-five years later, she was back on the catwalk, silver curls gleaming and brown clogs clicking, in a pageant for grandmothers.

The event in Thokoza township outside of Johannesburg, South Africa, featured prayers, speeches and a performance against domestic violence.

But the main attraction was on the red carpet stretching down the community hall where grandmothers paraded with pride in a competition that is rare.

"This takes me way back, brings my youth back," Malindi, a great-grandmother of five, told AFP, breaking into a joyful jig to "Happy Mama" by legendary South African jazz musician Hugh Masekela.

In this version of a beauty contest there were no swimsuit or evening wear categories. Instead, women paraded in their Sunday best, from sleeveless summer frocks to bold orange headwraps, strings of pearls to traditional wear.

Floral fabrics and well-loved kitten heels hinted at celebrations past.

Supporters — mostly women from the Sukuma Mbokodo Support Group that organized the show — clapped, ululated and fiddled with their phones to record the spectacle.

Agencies via Xinhua