EL beauties steal show at pageant
EAST London beauties Thandokazi Mfundisi and Uyathandwa Ndika came out tops at the Miss Eastern Cape – Beauty with a Purpose pageant on Sunday.
Mfundisi, a law student at the University of Fort Hare, was crowned Miss EC and Ndika took the throne of Miss EC Teen for 2016.
The pageant, in its third year, saw scores of people flocking into The Venue @Hemingways in East London dressed in their best cultural wear on Sunday to celebrate the young women.
The host for the evening was Faith Ndamse, a 2014 finalist for Mrs South Africa, and the guest speaker was Visions4Academy founder Nosi Moyo from Port Elizabeth, with a special performance by Idols SA season 12 runner-up Thami Shobede.
Beauty with a purpose and vision was the order of the day as each speaker touched on the importance of inner beauty and finding one’s true calling in life.
In her welcoming address, Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency chairwoman Vuyo Zitumane highlighted the role of women with a vision and the influence they can have.
The runners-up for the Miss EC title are Zintle Dingela and Nobenathi Ncwana, while runners-up for Miss EC Teen are Joleen Fathula and Thandiwe Jadezweni.
The 16-year-old Ndika said she did not expect to be crowned Miss EC Teen.
“This was the first pageant that I have entered and I am still overwhelmed. I don’t believe it,” she said.
Ndika said she was encouraged to enter by her sister.
“I had low self-esteem but my sister knew how much I wanted to change the community and she encouraged me to enter. I am glad I did because I have grown a lot through this programme. I am inspired to do things for my community; to be the change,” she said.
Ndika said she was looking forward to starting her own organisation for young township girls. “I want to focus on sports and also pass on what I have learned,” she said.
Mfundisi also said she was overwhelmed by the results.
“There were other women who had so much to offer. I can’t believe they chose me. I did not see this as a competition but as a group of women who have dreams to change their community. Whoever gets crowned will get to make their dreams a reality and I am grateful it’s me,” she said.
Mfundisi said through the empowerment week she has learned about the importance of one’s purpose in life.
“It was life-changing. There is so much more to us than what we look like on the outside. What we have on the inside and what we have to offer to the world is what matters in life,” she said.
In going forward, Mfundisi said she would be engaging women on the importance of financial independence.
“I want to look at blesser/ blessee relationships. These kinds of relationships not only get abusive physically but psychologically as well. Women need to find their true purpose in life and become their own providers,” she said.
The founder of the event, Zikhona Ngxata, said she saw the pageant as a programme aimed at grooming young women to become leaders who will have a deep impact on society.
In just a few years the pageant has grown – from 100 entries in 2014 to the more than 400 young women from across the province who entered this year.
“What’s important is that it’s not only the event that is growing but the impact that we have on the girls,” she said.
Ngxata said her highlight was the empowerment week they had where various women came to talk to the girls.
“We had social workers, a psychologist, businesspeople and mentors for them. We were focused on the overall being of a woman and imparting knowledge to them. I am happy with everything that happened,” she said. — poliswap@dispatch.co.za