5 things to know about new Miss SA Qhawekazi Mazaleni

HIGH SCHOOL QUEEN

Mazaleni got her first taste of pageantry as a teen in tiaras. She was voted first princess at Beacon Hills High School and has not turned her back on pageantry since.

SISTERS IN CROWNS

She is the youngest of three sisters but not the first to try her luck at the prestigious national crown. Her sister Homba lucked out of the big win in 2023 but managed to land in the top 5.

SOCIAL MEDIA MAVEN

While her first runner-up Luyanda Zuma is famed for her role as the romantic interest to Shaka Zulu in Shaka iLembe, Mazaleni has garnered fame for her work on social media.

BIG CHOP

Speaking of her social media, Miss SA 2025 took to her social media fans to “embrace change” by cutting her hair. The big change was during the unclear time when this year’s finalists were not sure if there would be a pageant. Mazaleni wanted to explore a more authentic approach to her beauty, regardless of the outcome.

MULTILINGUAL MAJESTY

Winning over South Africans for her focus on inclusive education through linguistics, Mazaleni’s passion for accessibility in the education sector stemmed from her upbringing. Sharing an official Miss SA press statement, Mazaleni said her bilingual home life sparked her interest in her speech, language and hearing therapy degree at Stellenbosch University. She is doing her Masters in speech-language pathology through the University of Pretoria with a focus on autism. She is fluent in Xhosa, English and Afrikaans and is learning Sepedi and Zulu.