Miss South Africa Shudufhadzo Musida poses for photographs for The Citizen, 3 December 2020, following an interview at the Black Brick hotel and apartment building in Sandton. Picture: Michel Bega
Imagine this; one day you’re competing against a number of other people fora highly coveted prize and the next, you have to pack up your old life and move into a new one?
Well, for one South African Shudufhadzo Musida, this actually became a reality the night she was crowned Miss South Africa 2020.
Judging from her social media, it’s been a whirlwind ever since. In a recent sit down with The Citizen, Musida said that her settling into her new life has been “quite an adjustment.”
“Before this, I used to just stay at home… Watch some TV, read a book but now I am exposed to so many different people. when I do appearances, everyone knows who I am, everyone knows my name.”
Although it has been about a month, Musida taps her mother as her ultimate support system for getting through all this and shares that her mom tries to accompany her to as many of her public appearances as she can.
One such appearance was her homecoming in the province of Limpopo – a place where her family has roots.
According to Musida, her won hadn’t really sunk in until she saw all the excited faces looking back her during one of her appearances.
Miss South Africa Shudufhadzo Musida poses for photographs for The Citizen, 3 December 2020, following an interview at the Black Brick hotel and apartment building in Sandton. Picture: Michel Bega
Mental health advocacy work
One of the things that impressed the audience most during the Miss SA finale was the fact that Musida championed the cause of mental health.
While she cannot yet reveal all the plans she has laid out in that regard, she did give away one nugget by outlining an upcoming project called “Mindful Mondays.”
“Mindful Mondays is almost like a podcast slash Instagram series that we’re going to be doing talking to relevant people in different communities and different organisations about mental health.
Education is one of the key foundations upon which she bases her work and plans to use it as the main part of her work towards destigmatizing mental health issues.
On getting through the festive season while fighting a range of mental health issues:
“Just remember that it’s okay to not be okay and having a bad day doesn’t mean that you have a bad life.”
She notes that downtime during the festive season might give people time to really face all the things they may have lost this year but reminds them that they are not alone and that it is okay to seek help.
“Just talk, talk as much as you can. I believe that when you feel a certain way, or you’re struggling with something, once you relinquish the power of it by talking about it, you find yourself feeling way lighter.”
Her last piece of advice is to focus on the small victories through completing minor tasks such as cooking a meal, walking to
“So focus on the small victories, you’re going to get to the big victories, I promise you but be kind to yourself and show yourself love.”
Make sure you watch the video at the top of this article for the full interview.
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