Miss SA 2025: Top 9 finalists champion youth empowerment
The Miss South Africa 2025 Top 9 during a visit to Hector Pieterson Museum
Image: Instagram/officialmisssa
The Miss South Africa 2025 finale is just days away, and excitement is building up for the crowning of a new leader at the SunBet Arena on October 25.
This year marks a new era of purpose, courage, and transformation, led by a judging panel that embodies authentic leadership and impact: Dr. Tamryn Green Nxumalo, Ndavi Nokeri, Cindy Mahlangu, Heidi Giokos, and Thebe Ikalafeng.
Each finalist will also drive an Empower Youth Africa campaign. Tackling issues from youth unemployment to education and wellness, reinforcing Miss South Africa’s mission to create real-world change.
The Top 10, which is competing as nine contestants after Lebohang Msimanga from KwaZulu-Natal, unfortunately, withdrew from the competition.
The contestants are doing their final preparations for the big night that will be watched by perhaps millions of people on Mzansi Magic.
At a recent press conference, the Top 9 shared their reasons why South Africans should vote for them, advocating for their different causes that are aimed at challenges facing young people.
Zanele Phakathi, the 27-year-old from Soweto, Gauteng, has decided to champion career guidance because that will help with the unemployment in South Africa.
“I believe that the South African youth lack information in a lot of things and that's why I want to uplift our youth by exposing them to careers they never knew even existed.
“I am the founder of Za Power House and I've reached over 500,000 kids going into high schools, telling them about the career they can pursue. I am a tech girl, I am in STEM, I code and I believe these are the careers that they can eventually go into,” said Phakathi.
Qhawekazi Mazaleni, a 24-year-old who grew up in the Eastern Cape and works as a speech therapist and is doing her master's, specializing in autism, has championed illiteracy within children.
“About 81% of our learners in grade four struggle to read with meaning and comprehension and the root cause of that is that when children are learning language in the beginning, they need to be able to understand it in their home languages.
“This is a problem I saw, and I took it upon myself to write and self-publish a book in a class just to allow children to be able to connect with literature, because it builds those critical thinking skills that they need from a foundational age for them to be able to carry that through.”
She wants South Africans to vote for her because she is someone who stands by her mission before the crown, and her cause is something that goes far beyond the crown.
“I want to create workshops for preschool teachers, for parents as well, to equip them with the skills and the resources that they need to be able to drive that, and to also open opportunities up to the youth to be able to become authors, illustrators, and publishers.”
Nthabiseng Kgasi, a 30-year-old from Soweto working towards tackling one of the biggest issues in South Africa; youth unemployment.
“Access to digital literacy, access to digital opportunities, because for me, that is how we are going to open up the job market, open up access to remote work, open up access to entrepreneurship.
“For me, personally, digital literacy is no longer a luxury. It is a necessity that each and every individual requires in order to be able to succeed and participate in today's job market or in today's economy.”
Nelly Mashile, a 28-year-old doctor from Daveyton in Gauteng, and her journey has been shaped by the women who raised her, who were all domestic workers. She advocates for young people to be educated and she wants her reign to champion relatability and authenticity and turn the harsh realities of South Africans into new stories of hope and possibilities.
Luyanda Zuma, a 23-year-old actress and model, is on a mission to continue the cycle of empowerment with a focus on the boy child. "I've made it my mission to tap into the talents within our streets, especially for the young men to tell their stories their way, and I want to do that by creating a film program."
Zuma wants her program to ensure that the young men leave with jobs and skills that they can use to improve their lives.
Karabo Mareka, a 27-year-old from Alexandra, champions for youth global exposure. "I found my path, through creativity and freedom, which led me to opportunities abroad."
Mareka had to be creative after finding herself in a situation where many youth find themselves with no tertiary qualification, unable to go to university due to a lack of funding and unemployed. She moved abroad and gained opportunities and skills to add value in South Africa.
Gizelle Venske, a 27-year-old from Vanderbijlpark, Gauteng grew up with her father as the school principal of an all-black school and her mom a teacher at a multicultural school . Their experiences taught her the principles of Ubuntu, helping underprivileged children in a classroom in a personal capacity.
"As a chartered accountant, I've realized how critical it is for our youth to have financial literacy. Something that is often not taught in school in subjects like LO. Our youth currently don't know how to open a bank account, how to save money, or how to budget.
"And for me, as I rise in my career, it is my mission to reach out and uplift others by using my knowledge on financial literacy to help them and to equip them as they enter the job market, as they step into adulthood after school."
Ghee-Ann Rademan, a 23-year-old from the Northern Suburbs, Cape Town, Western Cape and her mission is to empower youth with knowledge on the mind through mental health education.
Bridgette Jones, a 28-year-old from Bridgetown, Athlone, Cape Town and her mission is in creating safe spaces where young people can feel safe again, having witnessed how gang violence took away the opportunity of so many young people.
"I want to create safe spaces through sports and recreational facilities, focusing on long-lasting practical and I believe South Africa needs a leader that serves with heart and purpose."
The Miss SA grand finale is scheduled to take place on Saturday, October 25, at Sunbet Arena in Pretoria at 7pm and will air on Mzansi Magic.
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