Crowning glory: This year’s Miss South Africa Qhawekazi Mazaleni. Photo: Indirect Media
When Qhawekazi Mazaleni was crowned Miss South Africa at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria on 25 October, she felt a mix of nerves and gratitude.
“It was the nerves of knowing I’d been leading up to this moment for so long,” she says.
“But also the excitement of being on stage, feeling the energy in the arena and knowing I had really just shared my entire heart and what I’m passionate about with South Africa.
“When the crown was placed on my head, it went silent for a bit — and then I came back to myself and just felt this deep gratitude, the tears and the joy of it all.”
The 24-year-old from Gonubie, East London, had her family in the audience that night: her parents, aunt and two sisters. One of them, she proudly notes, knows the Miss South Africa journey all too well.
“My sister had done Miss South Africa in 2023 and made it into the top five,” Mazaleni says.
“She’s been in my corner the entire time. Having someone who had gone through the process made such a difference, especially with the emotional prep work. People don’t realise how much it takes emotionally, but she was able to support me through the tough moments.”
Mazaleni holds a degree in speech, language and hearing therapy from Stellenbosch University and is completing her master’s in speech-language pathology at the University of Pretoria, specialising in autism.
Her path to this field was not straightforward.
“When I was younger, I didn’t even know what a speech therapist was,” she laughs. “I initially wanted to go into marketing, but I realised I’m not someone who does well sitting in an office the entire day.
“I wanted to be creative and work with people. So, I started researching different careers and that’s when I discovered speech therapy.”
Her decision was solidified after a day of job shadowing a speech therapist in East London.
“A patient came in who had had a stroke,” she recalls. “He could understand language, but he couldn’t speak. The therapist was lovely and tried her best, but she only spoke English and Afrikaans. The patient spoke isiXhosa and I could see there was a language barrier between them.
“It was at that moment I realised we need more speech therapists who can provide services in South African languages. That’s what drew me to the field.”
Her passion grew as she began working with children.
“I’ve got a big heart for kids,” she says. “As I navigated speech therapy, I found that my passion really lies with the younger population.”
Through her studies and clinical work, Mazaleni began noticing a problem — a lack of accessible, multilingual resources for children.
“When I worked with English and Afrikaans-speaking kids, it was easy to find resources,” she explains.
“But when I tried to facilitate sessions in African languages, it was much more difficult. That’s when I started crafting little books and resources in isiXhosa.”
One of those ideas became Amasela Amdaka, a self-published children’s book designed to teach reading and counting skills in isiXhosa.
“Research shows that it’s so much more beneficial for a child to understand reading and learning concepts in their home language at a foundational level,” she says. “It sets them up for success later in life.
“For children with neurodiversities, or any sort of special needs, grasping those concepts first in their home language makes it easier to understand later in another language.”
As Miss South Africa, Mazaleni hopes to use her platform to shine a light on speech and communication challenges faced by children across the country.
“A lot of parents don’t even know that speech therapy is an option for their child,” she says. “Platforms like Miss South Africa allow us to have those open conversations.
“When women from different backgrounds bring their meaningful work to the public eye, it helps change the narrative — not just around pageantry, but around issues like special needs and inclusive education.”
Her plans for the year ahead are rooted in collaboration: “One of the first things I want to do is translate Amasela Amdaka into all South African languages,” she says.
“If I can partner with multilingual authors, illustrators and translators, we can make sure no child is left behind. It’s not just about one book — it’s about creating opportunities for others and building something that includes everyone.”
Mazaleni is aligning her literacy advocacy with the Miss South Africa organisation’s Empower Youth Africa initiative.
“It’s such a beautiful programme,” she says. “It targets the challenges that youth are facing: skills development, entrepreneurship, unemployment, civic engagement.
My journey is not mine to walk alone. When we create these opportunities, we bring our youth along with us.”
Asked what a national campaign around language and literacy would look like in her ideal world, she answers without hesitation.
“Workshops,” she says. “I would love to run literacy workshops that target households, because that’s where you start creating a culture of reading. We would work with parents, preschool teachers and communities in underserved areas.
“I’d also love to make better use of our public libraries. The ones in my area have so many good resources, including sections in African languages, that people can access for free. We need to make people aware of that.”
When she speaks about her work, Mazaleni’s tone is deliberate and full of quiet conviction but she’s also quick to admit that balance hasn’t always come easily.
“For me, balance is difficult,” she says. “Sometimes you have to weigh things differently. During Miss South Africa, I focused a lot on the competition, but I kept communicating with my supervisors and other stakeholders in my life to make sure everything stayed on track. Communication really is everything.”
That same sense of clarity extends to how she approaches fear and failure. Her personal motto — “it’s only embarrassing if you’re embarrassed” — reflects a mindset that prioritises courage over perfection.
“It’s made me embrace the potential of failure,” she explains. “We hold ourselves back because we’re afraid to fail. Even with Miss South Africa, just putting out that video to say I was entering was daunting.
“What if I didn’t make it? But I reminded myself that if I fail, it’s okay — I’ll learn something or try again later. It’s not failure; it’s redirection.”
Her inspirations mirror that philosophy. “I look up to Lupita Nyong’o,” she says. “She carries her culture and heritage with her wherever she goes and she’s so authentic in how she does it.
“And here at home, I really admire Esther Mahlangu. She’s taken Ndebele art around the world but stayed grounded in who she is. That’s something I deeply value.”
It’s no surprise that Mazaleni’s advice to young South African girls, especially those from small towns, echoes the same grounded wisdom.
“I’d tell them to think of the kind of woman they want to become,” she says. “Not the titles, not the achievements, but the characteristics.
“Is she hardworking? Is she humble? Does she have integrity? Start building those characteristics now. Then when opportunities come, you won’t be scrambling to find yourself — you’ll walk into those spaces already grounded in who you are.”
In a world that often celebrates surface over substance, Qhawekazi Mazaleni is charting her own path — one that values service as much as sparkle, inclusion as much as ambition and language as a bridge to belonging.
“I think that’s what Miss South Africa is really about,” she says. “Using who you are and what you love to make a difference.
“For me, that difference begins with helping every child find their voice.”