Nozipho Mashaba: Empress South Africa Semi-Finalist 2019

"The youth from my community have given up hope and l want to show them that it doesn’t matter where you come from, your dreams are valid, and you can achieve anything you want."

These were the words of a passionate local model, Nozipho Mashaba, who is battling it out as a semi-finalist in the 2019 Empress South Africa pageant. The 25-year-old from Ha-Kutama Tshikwarani can be the winner of Empress South Africa title but she needs votes to achieve that. To vote for her, SMS Nozipho Mashaba to 35334.

Empress South Africa is an online women empowerment contest using the “beauty with brains and purpose” platform to empower young women to grow and develop themselves by making a positive impact in their communities.

Mashaba said that she developed a love for beauty pageants at the age of six. "Beauty pageants have been my thing since I was young. During my adolescent stage, I started gaining weight and I got bullied and rejected when I went for castings. I decided from that time that I was going to stand my ground, because I am wonderfully made. I love the thrill and influence that comes with beauty pageants," Mashaba said.

She recently started an organization called The Unlimited Youth Development (TUYD), which mentors young girls to grow their self-esteem, do beauty pageants, public speaking, and debate. She studied BA in Public Management Governance at the University of Johannesburg. 

Date:01 September 2019

By: Mbulaheni Ridovhona

The 22-year-old Mbulaheni (Gary) Ridovhona has been passionate about journalism to the extent that he would buy himself a copy of weekly Univen students' newsletter, Our Voice. After reading, he would write stories about his rural village, Mamvuka, and submit them to the very newsletter for publication. His deep-rooted love for words and writing saw him register for a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies at the University of Venda, and joined the Limpopo Mirror team in February 2016 as a journalism intern.

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