Zozibini Tunzi was crowned Miss South Africa 2019 on 9th August 2019 at Sun Arena at Time Square in Pretoria, Gauteng. She later represented South Africa represented at Miss Universe 2019 on 8th December 2019 at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, United States and was crowned as the winner at the end of the event finale. She is the third woman from South Africa to win the title, and the first black woman since Leila Lopes was crowned Miss Universe 2011.
Zozibini has completed one year of her crowning as Miss South Africa and on such a special day, the diva posted a video of her moment from the competition and mentioned that the day will always be special for her due to two reasons; “first being that it is women's day and the second one being that I won Miss South Africa on this day.”
Zozi shared a clip of her answering the question at the finale round of Miss South Africa 2019 competition where she was asked about what South African women must keep smiling through all the darkness they face? To which the diva replied that, “We have absolute no reason to keep smiling because South African women are dying everyday and mostly people are doing nothing. I think it’s time to stop asking women what to do and ask perpetrator to do it, to be better, to start treating women better. It’s not upto us but the perpetrator to make a change now.” In her 30 second answer, Zozibini made an impactful impression on the judges as well as the audience that she was selected as the queen at the end of the event finale. Tunzi was inspired by former Miss South Africa, Basetsana Kumalo, to follow her dream of becoming a Miss South Africa.
In her post, Zozibini mentioned that the video is relevant for Women’s day as it touches on one of the biggest struggle’s women face, that being Femicide and abuse. She also mentioned that when she was asked the question, she could have easily answered with something wonderful but that’s not her and she wanted to bring everyone’s attention towards the injustice, cries of the South African women and thus, she chose to answer the question with a hard hitting truth. Her Miss Universe bio describes as her as a “passionate activist” who is “engaged in the fight against gender-based violence. She has devoted her social media campaign to changing the narrative around gender stereotypes. She is a proud advocate for natural beauty and encourages women to love themselves the way they are.
Zozibini mentioned that she knows that she alone wasn’t going to change the world but needed to take a step toward the future she wants to live in and her little effort could help others to speak and work towards a better future. She added, “May we always find the courage to speak out and act against injustices. Happy Miss South Africa Anniversary to me. And happy Women's Day South Africa.” She is also an advocate for education for all; "I am firm believer in education, and I would advise that they push education. We might not be able to do much for elders, but we can do so much for children by starting them early."
Prior to winning Miss South Africa, Tunzi was completing a Bachelor of Technology graduate degree in public relations management at Cape Peninsula University of Technology, and worked as a graduate intern in the public relations department of Ogilvy Cape Town. She began her beauty pageant journey when she participated in Miss South Africa 2017 and was placed at the Top 26 at the end of the finale. She came back and participated in Miss South Africa 2019 and was crowned as the winner and later represented South Africa at Miss Universe 2019 stage.
During the final round at Miss Universe 2019, the top three were each asked the same question: "What is the most important thing we should teach young girls today?" To which Tunzi replied “I think the most important thing we should be teaching young girls today is leadership. It's something that has been lacking in young girls and women for a very long time, not because we don't want to but because of what society has labelled women to be. I think we are the most powerful beings in the world and that we should be given every opportunity and that is what we should be teaching these young girls, to take up space, nothing is as important as taking up space in society and cementing yourself, thank you.” Like her hard-hitting answer at Miss South Africa 2019, Zozibini’s answer touched everyone’s heart and thus, she was crowned as the Miss Universe 2019 at the end of the event finale.
The diva has been residing in New York and working towards her advocacy even through a pandemic via social media. She is talking to former winners and learning new things while experiencing new things while staying indoors. She is one of the successful Miss Universe winners even though her reign has been disrupted with the ongoing covi19, her determination to work towards her advocacy hasn’t been moved a little.
We are so proud to call her our Miss Universe 2019 and congratulate her on such a prestigious day!