Back in August, a new Miss South Africa was crowned.
25-year-old Zozibini Tunzi, who is originally from the Eastern Cape but lives in Cape Town, walked away with the title, as well as R3 million in prize money and sponsorship deals.
She also won the right to represent South Africa in the Miss Universe pageant, where she slayed the competition, bringing home the brand-new “Power of Unity” crown, which is said to be worth R73 million.
First the Rugby World Cup, and now this. All things considered, that’s a decent haul.
Be sure to keep those happy thoughts close while you sit in the dark during load shedding.
Back to Tunzi, and TimesLIVE with some facts about the new Miss Universe that you probably didn’t know.
First, Tunzi, the third South African to hold the Miss Universe title, comes from a very academic family. Her mom is the principal of Bangweni Junior Secondary School in the Eastern Cape village of Bolotwa, and her father works at the Department of Higher Education & Training in Pretoria. With those genes, it’s no wonder she scored big on the final Q&A round in the competition.
On to what she’ll be earning as the reigning queen:
The Miss Universe organisation is tight-lipped when it comes to the prize package the winner receives, but Esquire Magazine reports that the title-holder is likely to paid a yearly salary that’s more than that of Miss America who earns six figures.
Consider that $100k is roughly R1.5m and that’s one massive annual paycheck.
I’m starting to see the appeal of pageants. Oh, and Miss South Africa and Miss Universe aren’t Tunzi’s only wins:
In 2015, she was crowned Miss Mamelodi Sundowns Western Cape.
She also entered Miss SA twice; she made it to the semifinals in 2017 before winning the pageant in 2019.
She also loves reading (more people should read!), can sing, and her favourite food is umngqusho (a traditional dish made from samp and sugar beans).
While she’s not afraid of the duties that come with the crown, she is afraid of height and holes. I’d suggest she steer clear of visiting Kimberley, then.
South Africa is celebrating, but not everyone is as thrilled with Tunzi’s victory as we are.
Per IOL,
A curious tweet from a French account sought to compare Tunzi (Miss South Africa 2019) with her Swedish counterpart Lina Ljungberg, who was one of the more than 60 contestants vying for the crown.
The offending tweet about the woman who didn’t make it past the top 20:
Using Google Translate, that means “On the left, Miss South Africa elected #MissUniverse2019. On the right, Miss Sweden eliminated to give her the place. Which of the two is the most beautiful without ideology, according to you?”
To be fair, Ljungberg didn’t ask for any of this and I’m sure she’s not happy with the person responsible, because South Africans are adding insult to injury on Twitter:
Ouch.
The moral of the story here is don’t come for South African legends on Twitter.
Congrats again to Tunzi, and long may she reign.
