Support local lass in pageant

GLENWOOD’S Sanele Zuma has been selected as an Empress South Africa semi-finalist and is hoping to represent KwaZulu-Natal in the finals of the pageant in October.

This is Sanele’s debut pageant, which she applied for after her friend encouraged her to take part in the competition.

“I have always been interested in pageants, but there are a lot of restrictions such as height and so on. I saw this pageant advertised on Facebook and read up on it and it really grabbed my attention,” she said. The competition was previously known as Miss Eagle SA, but the name was changed at the start of the year.

Sanele, (21), said Empress South Africa is about women empowerment, beauty with brains and purpose. She said as part of the pageant, she was given challenges to complete, one being to use social media to showcase singing, dancing or performing talent. “As my friends said I was good at singing, I decided to try this out, and I had to write poetry and recite it. This really gets you out of your comfort zone, also having to promote this on social media platforms, but it has been exciting,” she said.

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Sanele said there were three stages, contestant, semi-finalist and finalist, and 12 women were chosen to represent each province for the semi-finals, with only one from each going through to the finals in October.

She is a Motofind Ambassador and has enjoyed the journey so far.

“It has really pushed me to go after what I want. My goal is to start an organisation for the empowerment of young girls in Cato Ridge as there is a high number of teen pregnancies in the area. It is my home town and I have a heart for the area. I was brought up to be an independent woman, and I hope to impart my knowledge on these young girls. I have been involved with a soup kitchen in the area and am a blood donor, as I feel it is important to give back. I also plan to get involved in an old age home in the area, as I never had a gran, and enjoy taking care of the elderly,” she said, adding that community work and creating events was part of the requirements for the competition.

When she isn’t busy with her studies at Mangosuthu University of Technology and community work, Sanele said she enjoys taking time out with a good book, and that she loved listening to all genres of music and spending time with her family.

Sanele said she was confident she would go far in the competition and would be proud to represent KZN in the finals.

She encouraged the community to support her with SMS votes on 35334 (Sanele Zuma) and to follow her on Instagram: sanelezuma_Mesa2019 and on Facebook.

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