Local teen set to hit limelight

POLOKWANE – A LEARNER in gr. 11 at Capricorn High School is one of the top 50 Miss Teen Commonwealth South Africa semi-finalists in this year’s competition. Tumelo Molala (17) from Seshego said her mother influenced her to enter pageants from an early age. She said she had been doing it for years and wanted a successful career as a model.

“My mother always taught me to care for those who are less fortunate and always support them so I have been engaged in charity work and giving back to the community because nothing compares to the joy and happiness you receive when visiting these places.”

Tumelo said being a part of the pageant had filled her with growth, inspiration and knowledge because she met different people and used the opportunity to learn.

“I would like to gain more knowledge throughout this pageant and I would like to help my community more, this platform will help me to inspire young people to to become better citizens,” she said.

The pageant is aimed to empower women with knowledge about bringing change to communities in need. The finale will take place at the Lyrical Theatre at Gold Reef City on September 12 and the winner will represent South Africa at the international pageant in London next year. “The challenges we face are mostly that people undermine models and they think we are not smart enough to excel in other things,” she said.

“That we only know about make up and clothes is not true,” she continued, adding that women could be beautiful and intelligent, and still be career driven. She said she wanted to change the public’s perception about beauty pageants.

She further said she planned to study criminology because “our country has a high crime rate, and police facilities are overworked”.

She warned other models to be aware of fake modelling agencies because they could end up as victims of abduction or rape.