Based: Johannesburg
Zozibini Tunzi – from Tsolo, eSdwadweni in the Eastern Cape – was crowned Miss South Africa 2019 on Friday, August 9, which just happened to be Women’s Day in South Africa.
Just 122 days later, on Sunday, December 8, 2019, she won one of the highest global accolades when she was crowned Miss Universe at the world’s most prestigious pageant.
At the time of winning the Miss South Africa title, Zozi was completing her B-Tech in PR at Cape Peninsula University of Technology while working fulltime in an undergraduate programme at Ogilvy Cape Town. She had previously graduated with a National Diploma in Public Relations Management at the same institution.
BACKGROUND
For Zozi, family is is the most important part of her life: “I once read that a child chooses their parents. If that is true, my family is the best decision I have made in my life so far. Everything else could be falling apart but they remain the constant centre of my joy.”
Her mother Philiswa Tunzi Nadopu is a school principal at Bangweni JSS, a school in a village called Bolotwa in the Eastern Cape. Her father Lungisa Tunzi works in Pretoria at the Department of Higher Education and Training. She has three sisters: Yanga (30), Sibabalwe (24) and Ayakha (13).
“My dad is the greatest father in the whole world; he probably knows the names of all previous title holders of this pageant, probably even more than I do because he shows interest and invests time in everything his daughters love.”
Zozibini is a hardcore Marvel fans and enjoys the the DC comic Wonder Woman; she’s a pretty good singer although she doesn’t sing publicly and she enjoys nothing more than Umngqusho (pronounced “oom-nqoo-shoh” which is made from stamp mielies and sugar beans) and a beef stew.
INSPIRING NATURALNESS
It is Zozi’s desire (both as Miss South Africa and Miss Universe) to inspire people by making them feel good about embracing their naturalness in all forms. She wears her natural hair and believes that it should be an option for African women, should they wish to choose it.
She says: “The first misconception people have about beauty queens is that they have no depth, which is why they don’t find relevance in beauty pageants. This is far from the truth.
“Through pageants I’ve met inspirational women from different backgrounds doing amazing things for themselves and their communities.
“Looking at past Miss South Africa contestants, we see that brilliant minds have grace the stage. Beauty pageants in 2019 are more than just outer beauty, they are about what an individual can offer to the world. They are about being impactful, being an empowered woman who can empower other women. That can never be irrelevant.”
“I entered the Miss South Africa competition with my natural hair as a symbol of my firm belief in fair representation of any shape and form. And so, through winning both Miss South Africa and Miss Universe, I hope I have inspired people to be themselves at all times and to never compromise their identities, and to insert themselves in spaces where they feel that people like them do not belong.”
DUTY
As part of her Miss South Africa campaign, Zozi threw her weight behind the global fight against gender-based violence, supporting the United Nations #heforshe solidarity campaign for the advancement of gender equality.
Through #heforshe, Zozi aimed at achieving equality by encouraging both genders to partake as agents of change, and therefore fight against negative stereotypes. She invited South African men to join her in an online campaign, asking them to publicly support South African women.
Zozi said she wanted the men of this country to follow in the moral and ethical footsteps of her role models, Steve Biko and Nelson Mandela, both of whom where committed to human dignity, and gender equality. Her message to the men of South Africa, and the world: Be better. Do better.
