Career
As a 23-year-old mixed-race woman, she competed for the first time in 1991 and placed second. She competed the following year and defeated 11 other contestants for the title of 1992, the first time ever a non-white was crowned in the history of Her first runner-up was also non-white, black woman Augustine Masilela of Soweto, who would be a Top 10 semifinalist at Mission Universe 1995. Kleinhans would crown her successor a year later, Palesa Jacqui Mofokeng, who would be the first black ever and second non-white to capture the crown.
During the pageant participants paraded with the flag of their country.
Amy refused to walk with the flag of then apartheid South Africa. She chose instead to walk with a white flag, symbolising peace.
After the event she received a phone call from Nelson Mandela thanking her for making that decision. The dress she wore while participating in the pageant, a white and gold Stefania Morland design with elaborate ostrich feather details, is on exhibition at the Communist Party Nel Museum in Oudtshoorn.