From femicide to the beauty within: five quotes from Miss SA Zozibini Tunzi

Miss SA Zozibini Tunzi is using her voice and platform the best way she can.

From speaking out on gender-based violence to challenging beauty stereotypes, Tunzi is leaving no stone unturned.

Here are five quotes from the newly crowned beauty queen:

Beauty

“The most important lesson I learnt was that women are not one-dimensional and therefore you cannot box their beauty. We all come in different shapes, sizes and shades, with natural hair and weaves.”

Black is beautiful

“I see an opportunity to educate and speak out on a serious issue. When people say hurtful, negative things about black women and black people in general, I do not quickly take offence and here's why: society has previously been programmed in such a way that there's nothing beautiful about being black.”

What beauty is

“I don't Google myself or look at social media comments to validate me. I know that I am beautiful. That beauty is from within and not everyone has the same ideas of what beautiful is.”

Femicide in SA

“We have absolutely no reason to keep smiling, because South African women are dying every day and mostly people are doing nothing about it. It is not up to us, it’s up to perpetrators to start doing right.”

Endangered species

“Someone asked me in an interview a few days ago if I thought we had a successful Women's Month this year. And I thought to myself, how? When we're dying for being women. As far as I'm concerned, women in my country are an endangered species. Stop killing us!”