A 14-year-old girl from Mavalani village who was bullied for her dark skin colour has been selected to represent the province in the Pre-teen Universe South Africa beauty pageant.
The Grade 9 learner at Risinga Secondary School, says in her Gr 6 year she was mocked for her dark skin. “Some of my classmates said it was ugly and I was not worthy to associate with them,” she explains. “This really had a negative effect on me to the point that I hated going to school and I used to cry a lot about it.”

She says one of her teachers motivated her to ignore the insults. “She told me that black is beautiful no matter what people say about me. This helped me to build self-confidence.”
She says being selected to represent the province has further boosted her self-confidence and that more than anything the programme empowers girls to believe in themselves.
“My dream is to become a scientist and to study at an American university.

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I believe I will achieve it because whenever I set my mind on something I achieve it,” she says.
Mahori is one of 65 teenagers selected from the 773 who participated from across the country in the Pre-teen Universal South Africa event in Johannesburg. They will represent their respective provinces in Johannesburg on December 18. However, in order to make it to the final, each girl has to fundraise for the event. Whoever becomes number one by votes will automatically go through to the top 20 which will precede the final.

If not, the girls will have to go through an elimination interview process that will be held on October 6 where the selection of the 20 finalists will take place.
“I am hoping to get into the top 20 through the votes because one cannot predict what will happen during the interview process,” she said, urging people to vote for her.
To vote for Mahori go to @pre_teen_universe_south_africa on social media.