Qhawekazi Mazaleni, Miss South Africa 2025: 'I don't want it to be my journey alone'

Eastern Cape-born Qhawekazi Mazaleni (24) has been crowned Miss South Africa 2025.

Mazaleni is a qualified speech-language pathologist currently pursuing a master's degree and is a self-published author of a children's book called Amasele Amdaka, which translates to The Dirty Frogs.

"It doesn't feel real," says Mazaleni. "There are moments where I'm stepping into it and there are other moments where I'm like, 'Okay, no, this is real.'"

One change Mazaleni is getting her head around is not running in public anymore.

"Usually, I'll get home and go for a run, but now, because it's in the height of everything, it's a lot of eyes on me, so it's also a safety thing."

During her reign, she aims to address the country's high rates of illiteracy in three ways:

"One of the big things is being able to partner with other multilingual illustrators, translators and authors because I don't want it to be just my journey alone. I want to take other people with me, especially when looking at unemployment within our country.

"One of the first things we want to do is translate my book into all South African languages so it's more inclusive towards children within the country. But to also start creating more books and more resources in our various South African languages to make it more accessible to children.

"The third thing I really want to do is create literacy workshops for parents and teachers in underserved communities, just because they also need that knowledge, not just the book, but the knowledge that comes with it, to equip the communities, rather than us just coming in, giving books and stepping back out.

Mazaleni says having this platform is inspiring to others because 'representation really matters':

She has advice for future Miss South Africa contenders. "Focus on why you're entering a competition; you have to know why you're doing this thing. It's only embarrassing if you're embarrassed. People will talk whether you make it into the competition or not, but if you're doing it for yourself, your personal development and the causes you stand for, it weighs a lot more than what people could potentially be saying."

Fast facts about Miss South Africa 2025:

• She's a fan of 'sweet and salty'. Her favourite movie snack is popcorn with sour cream and butter salt combined with Astros and sour worms.
• Her favourite flower is a premiera/frangipani.
• She pours boiling water over Weet-Bix before adding milk.
• She's team no pineapple on pizza.

To listen to Mazaleni in conversation with Carl Wastie and Cassidy Nicholson on Kfm 94.5's The Flash Drive, click below: