Ladysmith lad to become ‘king’?
Qiniso is not only successful in making his dreams become a reality, but also in breaking gender-based and personal boundaries
Beauty pageants are usually aimed at women, but Qiniso Shabalala is reinventing our ideas of men and pageants.
Qiniso originally grew up in the rural area of St Chad’s near Ezakheni.
“I stayed with my two sisters, my mother, cousin and grandmother. We are quite a big family if you count the cousins and uncles who would come and stay with us every now and then.”
Pageants were not always Qiniso’s “thing”.
He mostly stuck to schoolwork and focused on reaching his dream of pursuing a career in medicine.
He was inspired by his mother, who was a nurse, and he is currently studying medicine at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University.
“My family was very protective of us and I was never allowed to just go out and play outside of the yard, which forced me to work on my schoolwork.
“That’s how I managed to make it into medical school.”
However, this year saw him entering the Miss Queen and Mr King of South Africa pageant. Participants from all over KZN have entered.
“What got me interested is that they scouted me via social media.
“The head organiser, Tony De Sousa, added me on Facebook and then began introducing me to the pageant and what it’s about.
When auditions day came along, he sent me the application form and I applied.
“Luckily enough, I was selected as one of the finalists.”
Qiniso stated that he is open-minded and is always up for trying out new things and experiencing what life has to offer, which is what pushed him to enter the pageant.
A pageant as big as this one requires giving up a lot of time.
Thus, Qiniso has had to balance this endeavour with school, but luckily he has a great support system.
“My mom has to be the top one because, from a young age, she told me I could do and become anything I want to be. Others are my friends whom I now consider as brothers that I’ve met in my time here at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University. Lastly, the school management is doing its best to help me too and I will be forever grateful to all of them.”
Besides medicine, Qiniso has a passion for helping others and wants to open a number of charities to fulfil this passion. “I have always dreamed of having my own charity organisations one day and with this pageant, I have learned how I can go about achieving this goal.
“So, in the future, I see myself running a number of successful charities.”
He encourages anyone, no matter their gender, to participate in pageants if that is what they want to do.
“I’d say all they need to do is to get started. Be it by doing local pageants, fashion shows, etc, but they need to be doing something which will help them learn more about modelling and build up their confidence to enter something this big.”
Qiniso is not only successful in making his dreams become a reality, but also in breaking gender-based boundaries and personal boundaries.
To help Qiniso grab the Mr King title, simply go on social media, follow the pageant pages and ‘like’ all his pictures.
The pageant media pages are: Instagram: @kingandqueenofsa and his personal Instagram is @quetheinfidel.
Those who have him as a ‘friend’ on Facebook can ‘like’ the pictures he uploads there and the ones he shares.
His Facebook page is Qiniso Shabalala.
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