The lovely Vhulenda Precious Makhuvha was crowned Miss Mashau 2023/2024 during an event that was hosted by the Miss Mashau Foundation at the Elias Nefale Eco Estate on 28 December.
The 22-year-old beauty hails from Mashau village and is a second-year Bachelor of Business Management student at the University of Venda.
Chantal Maimela (22) was selected as the first princess, while 16-year-old Lutendo Maluleke took her place as the second princess. All the winners were rewarded with cash, vouchers, and other goodies for their efforts.
Vhulenda, who confessed that it was the first-ever beauty competition that she participated in, said her advocacy lay in women's empowerment, and she hoped that winning the pageant would open those doors for her to empower other women.
The spokesperson for the Miss Mashau Foundation, Ms Mulanga Mashau, said the event had started three years ago to encourage young girls to dream big and work harder to become influential people in their communities. "Many young women from rural South African communities find themselves handicapped because they do not have access to the many resources available to their urban counterparts. The Miss Mashau Pageant aims to disarm this handicap by making young women aware that they are more than just what society deems them to be. Their intellect, uniqueness, cultural heritage, and many other factors are parts of the holistic definition of what it means to be a 'beautiful' woman in South Africa and the global community in general."
Mashau said she was impressed and still overwhelmed by the massive turnout. "We had more than 200 guests attending the event. Our dream is to see this pageant growing more each year," she said.