Chemical engineer from Zithobeni wants to inspire women

Esther Mkhwebane, a 40-year-old woman, was chosen as a Mrs SA 2024 semi-finalist on February 8 at the Dallmayr Mrs South Africa pageant.

The Dallmayr Mrs South Africa pageant is a women’s empowerment programme designed to unleash the participants’ hidden potential by teaching them valuable skills, such as leadership, financial competence, sponsorship management, communication, personal branding, and media management.

Mkhwebane, a chemical engineer by profession, works as a technical advisor in the energy sector and has a passion for career coaching for high school learners, skills development and talent discovery and display.

She was born and raised on a farm, Godrich Kamp, but moved to Zithobeni when she was 11 years old to be closer to schools.

Mkhwebane started entering beauty pageants in primary school, where she won her first title for Miss Vezulwazi Primary School at the age of 14. This gave her the confidence to pursue more pageants in the township.

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Mkhwebane said, “I am reserved and calm and enjoy good company, and I love laughing. I am quite sporty, ambitious, and focused.”

“I am very serious about academics, taking after my late mom, who was a true advocate for education. Seeing the era where she lived, she was denied an opportunity to go to school because of poverty and lack of resources.”

This has fuelled her to want to see change, to see more children go to school and take their schooling further, and not struggle like she did because of the lack of financial resources.

This has also led her to adopt a high school in her hometown, where she and other professionals do school visits to encourage learners to take education seriously and to further their studies, thus inspiring them through our own stories and also sharing more information about our careers.

“I have noticed that I have developed a soft spot for women, who are the pillars in their homes and our communities.

“These women are selfless, putting everybody else’s needs before their own needs, sacrificing a lot and, at times, bury their dreams as they focus on ensuring that everything is in order around them,” said Mkhwebane.

Modelling was fun for her; the beauty, the glam and the ability to just be herself and appreciate the way she is.

“I appreciated the coaching, on how we should carry ourselves on stage and off stage, to take care of ourselves and just love who we are,” said Mkhwebane.

This gave her the self-confidence to believe in herself and that she could achieve what she set her mind to. It also gave her a chance to appreciate and respect others too, for who they are.

“One of my dreams was to enter Miss South Africa, but because of a lack of resources and lack of information, coming from a previously disadvantaged community, I could not pursue that dream, and I let that dream go and focused on my studies.”

“I then got married and had children,” she said.

The dream was forgotten until she came across information about the beauty pageant for married women called the Mrs South Africa contest. In 2019, she applied and was accepted as a semi-finalist, but her journey was short-lived, as she could not secure a sponsor on time.

Mkhwebane said, “I thought I was done with pageants until I realised I could not live my life with regrets, on why I couldn’t go back, as the dream was still alive.

“I believe my humble beginnings of growing up in Zithobeni have prepared me for this opportunity to be a change agent and an inspiration to those of similar backgrounds. I also believe the challenges I faced growing up were part of God’s process of equipping me with a humble heart that would fuel me to want to make a difference in other people’s lives,” said Mkhwebane.

Mkhwebane will participate in many more workshops, photoshoots, media interviews, fitness challenges, sponsor events, and community projects in the days leading up to the semi-finals judging week and showcase early in July, where the 2024 top 30 finalists will be announced.