Three UJ students in Miss SA top 12
AUCKLAND PARK– Ntsiki Mkhize, Gugulethu Banda and Liesl Laurie have been chosen to be in the top 12 Miss SA finalists.
The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is known for producing original talent for the arts, business, entertainment and sciences, who go on to dominate within their respective fraternities, globally. This year, three UJ students, Ntsiki Mkhize, Liesl Laurie and Gugulethu Banda, will brace the 2015 Miss South Africa (SA) beauty pageant with this confidence.
One of the finalists, Ntsiki Mkhize, is equipped with a BCom Marketing Management degree from UJ.
“I wanted to create great commercials and work in advertising to manage brands. I also wanted to own my own business. My father suggested that I do a BCom (Marketing Management) degree, instead of advertising on its own, so that I could be equipped with business knowledge. I registered for this degree in 2010,” said the much recent UJ alumni.
The elegant beauty has a self-professed passion for the African continent and for connecting with people. In a quest to gain knowledge on how she can assist development in Africa, she added an honours degree in logistics management.
“During my undergraduate studies at the University, I found logistics, which was one of my majors, to be challenging and it took me out of my comfort zone. I decided to pursue it in my postgraduate studies. In 2013, I then did my BCom Hons (Logistics Management).”
The beauty with brains Gugulethu Banda is currently in her first year at UJ. She is studying toward a BA in Tourism Development.
“I aspire to be a part of the South African tourism industry and be a business woman in that field. I want to contribute toward making South Africa’s tourism sector bigger than it already is. My other goal is to become Miss South Africa.”
Liesl Laurie graduated from the UJ Soweto campus in last year.
“After graduating, I decided to take the rest of the year off from university to pursue a full-time career in modelling and also to embark on my journey of giving back to my community and my country. My motto is – will never fit in because I was born to stand out,” she said.
“I have been working with a number of non-profit organisations that include Babies Behind Bars and Pilgrim Oasis Community Children’s Outreach in Eldorado Park and adjacent informal settlement in Kliptown.”
