Shudufhadzo Musida won the title of Miss South Africa 2020 on 24th October 2020 at The Table Bay Hotel, Cape Town. She succeeded Miss South Africa 2019 Sasha Lee Oliver for the title and will be representing South Africa at Miss World 2020/2021 scheduled to take place at the Coca-Cola Music Hall in San Juan, Puerto Rico by the end of this year.
Recently, Shudu took to her social media to tweet “I want to be president” and the tweet went viral as the people on social media backlashed the beauty queen for posting her pictures in bikini and not speaking much on the ongoing situations in the world. Her post was met with a lot of mean tweets and some of them included, “President of bikini bodies?”, “Focus on walking around naked. Stay in your lane”, “We gave a hand, you became Miss South Africa. Now you want the whole arm. Yonela”, etc.
The online trolls did not hesitate in comparing the strong and confident beauty queen with her predecessor and the reigning Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi as one of the users mentioned, “Start to be more vocal share more of your opinions than pics. I for one knows how Zozi use to think about her passion etc but with you is just pic after pic we need content Shudu then you may stand a chance.” Someone wrote, “Zozi was the first Miss South Africa I took seriously, she is intelligent and was involved in the things that uplift women. The only difference between Shudu and Mihlali Ndamase is that she holds a degree.”
But many supported the beauty queen and tried to uplift her spirits by appreciating her and mentioned, “Only people that are Broken inside will attack our Miss South Africa, Shudu is intelligent, beautiful, confident, and well-deserved of the title she holds. #ShuduForPresident Bullies always hide their pain by bullying others.” Someone wrote, “Come to think of it what can STOP Miss South Africa from being the next President. I mean she’s intelligent, outspoken, passionate, and driven the list is endless. Go for it Shudu you have my support, I want you to beat Duduzane to it, Venda Queen.”
Miss South Africa's organization decided to intertwine and support the beauty queen and posted, “We believe that the ability to succeed in the face of adversity while staying true to ideals and principles of a better society gives birth to greatness. We believe that when women face their power and embrace their future, they can take on any position and succeed! The account went on to state that Shudu’s ambitions were also valid. #YourDreamsAreValid We all have dreams within us and may we take courage today to pursue them and take up space!”
The beauty queen is yet to comment on the backlash. Earlier this year, the model came under the fire for posting bikini pictures and the people on social media called out to her and mentioned that she should be focusing on more important things. Miss South Africa CEO Stephanie Weil condemns the cyberbullying and personal attacks on Shudu; she stated, “In response to social media comments about Miss South Africa posting images of herself in a swimsuit, taken at her apartment on the weekend, we would like to point out Shudu has been on a well-deserved holiday after a whirlwind and demanding timetable after her crowning in October last year, a period in which she also completed her honors in international relations at the University of Witwatersrand.”
Shudufhadzo Musida is preparing herself for the final competition where she is assured to perform her best to win the crown. She is an advocate for children and women empowerment as well as mental health. People who know Shudu have mentioned that they are very proud of what she has received in life and will always praise her for all the work she has been doing for society. Reigning Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi inspired Shudufhadzo to enter the Miss South Africa pageant “because of her grace and her ability to make a statement without straining her voice”.