Journalism student Zasembo Mkhize was recently crowned Indoni Miss KZN 2024 at the prestigious annual event that was at the Indoni Eco Village. She will now compete for the title of Indoni Miss Cultural South Africa 2024 that takes place in December.
Mkhize, 20, from eMpangeni, is passionate about the Zulu culture and traditions. She won the judges hearts with her stunning traditional attire, helping her earn a spot in the finals.
The national cultural pageant advocates for moral regeneration, targetting the youth by using identity focused programmes for addressing social ills and bring about behavioural change.
“This is my second time entering the competition. What motivated me was that I had always wanted to be the voice of the Zulu people and I wanted to show that dreams can come true through hard work and determination,” said Mkhize.
Sharing her experience, Mkhize indicated that she “learned a lot” about herself during the competition. Preparing for it required her to look within herself and figure out who she was. She was ecstatic after being crowned Indoni Miss KZN 2024 and is looking forward to representing the province in the forthcoming finals.
“I received a lot of knowledge about my culture as well as the culture and heritage of the Zulu kingdom. Preparing for the competition meant that I needed to create a schedule for myself so that I could be able to balance my schoolwork and the duties for the competition,” she said.
Mkhize expressed that the Indoni Miss KZN was a competition where she had to show how much knowledge she had gained about her culture from the Indoni Culture School, which is a camp where she was taught about her culture and heritage. In the competition, she had to show and inform people about who she was and where she came from.
Advising young people wishing to follow in her footsteps, Mkhize said: “What I can say to young people is to come and attend the Indoni Culture School so that they can also be taught about their culture and heritage.”
