Hazyview and Bushbuckridge beauties shine at crowning
The ladies from Hazyview and Bushbuckridge advised young girls to stay focused and know what they want in life, and that they must not let their background determine their future.
Hazyview and Bushbuckridge were well represented at the crowning of Miss Mpumalanga 2024, held at the Communio Church in Mbombela on March 16.
It was during this pageant that participants from Bushbuckridge and Hazyview strutted their stuff and impressed the judges.
Bushbuckridge was represented by Nombulelo Tshabangu from Thulamahashe. During an interview with Lowvelder, this second runner-up said the journey to the final crowning “was exciting and challenging”. She said that from the initial auditions to the final stage, every moment was full of excitement, nerves and a lot of determination.
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Meeting outstanding individuals and promoting important and relevant issues were, according to her, an empowering aspect of the annual pageant. Tshabangu’s projects focused on holistic youth empowerment and opened many doors for her. Winning the title of second runner-up is an honour and a testament of the hard work and dedication put into the competition, especially considering it was her first time entering a beauty pageant.
She also told young girls from Bushbuckridge to be resilient and believe in themselves, saying no dream is too big and no obstacle is too great to overcome with determination and hard work. “Embrace your uniqueness, follow your passions and never doubt your ability to achieve greatness. Remember that success is not just about winning titles or accolades, but about the positive impact you make on the lives of others and the world around you,” she said.
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One of the panel judges, Mash Malibe, originally from Marite in Bushbuckridge, kept this rural area uppermost in everyone’s mind as she rightly said that Mpumalanga is a province of great talent with “a richness of spirit and people hungry for success, and producing diamonds from the rough”.
Dudlu ka Dlamini from Masoyi kept the audience entertained and thanked the organisers for recognising her talent, performing “Phendula” by the late Zahara.
Sfeziwe Mkhabela from Mahushu near Hazyview was the MC at the crowning event. Her message to young girls from her village was, “Never give up; keep on pressing on. Sometimes it may seem as if your efforts are not recognised, but trust me there’s a season for everything and one day your season will come for you to just overflow. Press on don’t give up. You might not win some competitions, but it doesn’t mean you are not good enough, it’s just not your time yet, and remember some rejections are a blessing in disguise. I have gotten used to corporate platforms such as business seminars and the likes.
However, what I loved about MCing Miss Mpumalanga was that it spoke to my personality, my loud bubbly confident personality, let alone that I am a fashion designer by profession and I got to wear my own clothes and ignite my personality even more. So, in a nutshell I am truly honoured to have served a girl on the night. I am a firm advocate of removing a girl from the street and giving her purpose because every girl deserves that opportunity,” she said.
