Street vendor mom sponsors Miss Ballito pageant finalist daughter
"I used all my savings because I saw how dedicated she was to win this pageant. What encouraged me the most was that she has our village at heart" - Miss Ballito finalist Nokulunga Zikhali's mother, Lindiwe.
Carrying her village in her heart, Miss Ballito finalist Nokulunga Zikhali hopes to inspire rural girls.
The tenacious 24-year-old from Doringkop said she wanted girls from her village to see that they do not have to be rich or connected to do good and achieve.
Nokulunga was raised by a widowed street vendor, Lindiwe Zikhali (61), who sells vegetables, fruits, Zulu herbs and shoes at the Tongaat taxi rank.
Like many other underprivileged girls she has gone through difficult times, such as failing her matric.
Instead of abandoning her dream of becoming a teacher, she swallowed her pride and went back to repeat Grade 11 and 12 and passed her matric with a bachelor’s degree pass.
She hoped to pursue a teaching degree, but financial difficulties prevented this and she hopes to continue her studies next year.
When she could not find a job in the interim, her sister encouraged her to enter the Miss Ballito pageant.
“She knew I loved modelling and felt I had what it took to enter. I then registered but, again, I could not find a sponsor until my mother came forward,” said Nokulunga.
She said she wants to help her former school, Banguni High School, that is falling apart.
“I just want to fix their classroom doors and windows because most of them are broken. Many pupils are also wearing worn-out uniforms and I hope to use the pageant to help them.”
Lindiwe said she will stop at nothing to help her daughter or any of her children to achieve their dreams, using her last R5 000 to sponsor her daughter.
“I used all my savings because I saw how dedicated she was to win this pageant. What encouraged me the most was that she has our village at heart.”
The mother of six has been a vendor at the Tongaat Taxi rank since 1998 after moving from Pinetown.
She wakes up at 4.30am every morning and takes a taxi to KwaDukuza, from where she takes another taxi to Tongaat.
“I want her to follow her heart in whatever she wants to do. I will always be behind her with the little support I can afford,” said Lindiwe.
She has recently received another sponsorship from a Durban North company called, SGK Security and Bodyguarding.
If you would like to sponsor Nokulunga contact her at 081 865 6634 or zikhalinokulunga16@gmail.com.
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