Beauty queen scoops top Africa award

Chris Theko

Mrs Universe Africa finalist, Mojabeng Senekal-Ndebele, last Saturday won the prestigious Inspirational Woman Award at the Emerge Africa Awards.

Held on May 27 at the ANEW Hotel in Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa, the Emerge Africa Awards honour trailblazers in different fields across the continent in different categories.

The awards are annual, and this year they were in their second edition.

“Where I come from excellence is rarely awarded, and that has led to many generations lacking in the desire to pursue their dreams and talents because of the lack of inspiration,” Mojabeng said after her big win.

“So I have made it my mission to go after all of my aspirations, perform and implement at my best and come out on top in all I do. This has always been fuelled by my passion to serve, and my purpose which is to inspire.”

Emerge Africa awards celebrate and recognize all trailblazers.

Having been nominated as per the award system, Mojabeng had to campaign for votes over a period of two months. Only the SMS voting system was used.

“I ran a campaign on social media requesting my supporters to vote for me, and they rallied and voted in numbers. I am eternally grateful because it means they too believed I deserved this award.

“The category had the highest number of nominees and was the most voted for. So you can imagine how thrilled I am to be a winner, to share the stage with some of Africa’s most phenomenal health professionals, business leaders, creators, and creatives was gratifying. It was validating in the greatest form, a statement that reassures me of my purpose to inspire every human being that has ever had a dream,” she said.

Mojabeng, who is the 2015 Face of Lesotho was also awarded an international humanitarian accolade at the Face of Beauty International in Taipei, Taiwan in 2015 against contestants from 62 countries.

The Botha-Bothe-born beauty queen was the fourth runner-up at the Miss Africa 2017 pageant.

She is the very first Mosotho to represent Lesotho at the Mrs Universe Africa competition. She said this was a very important path as she seeks to inspire married women.

“For generations, women have lost their voice to marriage and thus the motive not to pursue their interests. I entered this competition to inspire married women to continue pursuing their passions and design for themselves what a life of purpose is,” she said.

The Mrs Universe Africa event is taking place in July this year at the Lyric Theater in Gold Reef City, Gauteng, South Africa. As part of the competition, Mojabeng had to raise M20 000, which is still an ongoing process.

Apart from being a beauty queen and model, she is also a public health professional with a Master’s Degree in Public Health.