Qhawekazi Mazaleni | |
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 Mazaleni as finalist for Miss South Africa 2025 | |
| Born | Qhawekazi Mazaleni 2001 (age 23–24) East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa |
| Education | |
| Occupations |
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| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Beauty pageant titleholder | |
| Title | Miss South Africa 2025 |
| Major competitions |
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Qhawekazi Mazaleni (born 2001) is a South African speech language therapist, author and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss South Africa 2025. She will now represent her country at Miss World 2026.
Mazaleni was born and raised in a suburb of East London in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. [1] [2] She attended Beaconhurst High School and later completed a degree in speech, Language and Hearing Therapy at Stellenbosch University. [3] She is pursuing postgraduate studies of Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Pretoria. [4] [5]
Mazaleni is a qualified speech-language therapist who has worked with children, including those with cerebral palsy and autism spectrum disorders. [6] [7] She is also a children's author, who has published an IsiXhosa children's book Amasele Amdaka. [8] The book is designed to teach reading and counting skills in a home language. She plans to have the book translated into South Africa’s other official languages and to create educational resources and workshops for teachers, parents, and students in underserved communities. [9]
Mazaleni entered the national the 67th edition of Miss South Africa pageant in 2025 and was selected as a finalist. [10] [11] On the 25th of October 2025, she was crowned the new Miss South Africa 2025 preceded by Mia le Roux. [12] [13] [14] In the competition she outperformed eight other finalists when her first runner-up was Luyanda Zuma and second runner-up was Karabo Mareka. [15] [16] [17] She did not compete in the Miss Universe 2025 due to license issues under the new management of Miss South Africa. [18]