Mondlane from Tembisa eyes African beauty crown
Tembisa model aims to chase the prestige title
Fikile Mondlane (38) from Tembisa will be competing in the Mrs Africa continental pageant.
The event is scheduled to take place on November 2 in Rustenburg.
Mondlane said while the crown and sash are the highlight of the competition, she believes the crown does not define her, but rather she defines the crown.
The Mrs Africa pageant was established in 2001 by Carolyn Baldwin-Botha, the CEO of Pageants SA, who is known as the ‘mother of pageantry’ in South Africa.
Mondlane said she did not expect to make it all the way to the finals.
“I was overwhelmed when they announced the finalists. It felt so fulfilling to have my name as one of the continental beauty pageant finalists,” said Mondlane.
She said the competition is not about being famous. Instead, it’s about making a difference in other people’s lives.
“It makes me happy to see other people smiling and going to bed happy every day,” she said.
Mondlane has worked as an immigration officer at the Department of Home Affairs for 13 years.
She also has her own organisation called Grass to Grace Foundation, which aims at creating awareness of mental health issues.
Mondlane added: “Beauty is not about standing in front of a camera, taking photographs and showing them to the world. Beauty is making a difference in people’s lives and loving everyone.”
Mondlane loves doing charity work and has adopted the orphanage Uthandiwe Children’s Home, where she often visits to spend time with the children.
“Children need love and attention. I go to the home to give children love, talk to them, ask her them how they are doing, what is it they need and just mother them.”
“I focus mainly on underprivileged communities. I go to schools, identify disadvantaged children with the help of schoolteachers and then donate school uniforms in different schools around my area,” said Mondlane.
