She's ready to hand it over. After all she's already made history as the longest reigning Miss Universe. She got the crown in 2019 and due to the pandemic, she held on to it a little longer than others.
Now she's getting ready to crown the new Miss Universe on 16 May.
Zozibini Tunzi won the hearts of millions across the globe when she told women and young girls to take up space and cement themselves in the world.
We have had the opportunity to interview her and get to know our Miss Universe better in these interviews.
Zozibini Tunzi on the day she cut her hair
When she first entered the Miss South Africa pageant in 2017, she looked very different. With her long black weave, she faded into the background and only made it into the semi-finals. Two years later, she came back – more confident with her natural hair, cut short and demanded to be seen. She ultimately became Miss South Africa 2019.
“I believe that beauty means being comfortable with who you are,” she told Drum.
“Beauty is subjective, so people’s opinions don’t really matter. Women are not one-dimensional, we come in different shapes and sizes, and we are all equally beautiful.”
When Zozi decided to cut her hair, she was at first (like many of us) fearful about how she would look.
“I cut my hair two years ago – I used to have a weave and braids. When I decided to cut my hair, I was so fearful about not being beautiful until the moment my hair hit the floor. And when I looked in the mirror, I realised how beautiful I was.”
Zozibini Tunzi on the first thing she wanted to do with her Miss South Africa prize money
When she was crowned Miss South Africa in 2019 and won R1 million and a car, speaking to Move! Zozi said that she knew exactly what she wanted to do with her prize money.
“I don’t know what to do with the money yet but what I do know is that I want to do is pay off my school fees in full first.” She told us.
The then 25-year-old was doing her B-Tech in Public Relations at Cape Peninsula University of technology (CPUT) at the time.
Zozi also won a brand-new car but she admitted that she didn’t have a driver’s license.
“Unfortunately, I do not have a drivers license yet but I am still excited about my new car.”
When asked if she would be keeping her hair short during her reign as Miss SA she said: “I came here like this. I’ve worn my hair like this for two years now and I plan to keep it that way."
Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi opens about her virtual reign
For weeks the phrase ran in a loop in her mind: what now? Holed up in her Manhattan apartment, Zozibini Tunzi was flooded with sadness and feelings of impending doom. It was early March in New York and the “city that never sleeps” was shrouded in a silent blanket of snow.
The once teeming streets were eerily empty, resembling something from a post-apocalyptic movie as New Yorkers hunkered down in their homes. Zozi had been crowned Miss Universe just three months before and the world was supposed to be her oyster.
But in the blink of an eye, all the dreams that had come true hung in the balance, in danger of being destroyed by a virus that had all but brought the globe to a halt.
“I didn’t immediately realise what the full impact would be on my reign,” the 26-year-old beauty told DRUM via video call from the Big Apple. “But then suddenly, like a shot of iced water in the face, it hit me: all my plans for the year had been scrapped.”
Travelling the world, glamorous ad campaigns, glitzy fundraisers, and busy media tours – everything had been wiped off the board.
“Like millions of people, I went into isolation – more than 12 000km from my loved ones,” she says.
“It was terribly hard. In the days and weeks before, I’d been constantly on the go and then suddenly everything came to a screeching halt. I couldn’t help but wish things could’ve been different. I even once, at a very low point, wished I’d been born in a different year.”
But she’s not one to stay down for long, not after working so hard for so many years to realise her dreams.
“I had to pick myself up, put some makeup on, look in the mirror and tell myself, ‘Yes, of course it’s awful. But it is not the end. This is what you fought for, remember?’
“And that’s when my dark mood lifted. I realised we’re living in the digital age, that I have the power to reach many more people than with any physical tour. My voice hasn’t been silenced – if anything, it’s been amplified. And it’s my responsibility to use it in new ways.”
Tough though this year has been, she knows how lucky she is. “I still pinch myself every day,” she says of her luxury flat in the heart of upmarket Manhattan.
“The apartment is a stone’s throw from Central Park – look,” she says, gesturing at the window, “it’s just down the road.” Her roomie, as Zozi calls her housemate, is Cheslie Kryst, the reigning Miss USA, and they’ve become besties during lockdown.
“It’s wonderful that I don’t have to be alone. We agree on so many issues and we have many shared passions. Except for maybe one thing: Cheslie loves exercise. Her motto is ‘as much as possible’. That is not me, but we often go walking or jogging together in Central Park.”
Zozi’s new normal is very different to how it would have been had Covid-19 not happened. New York – one of the hardest-hit cities in the world – went into lockdown more extensively than many others.
Zozibini Tunzi on overcoming rejection by learning to be fearless
She's a symbol of strength, courage, and resilience.
Ever since she was crowned as Miss South Africa and Miss Universe 2019; Zozibini Tunzi (27) has become an icon that thousands look up to.
In her latest partnership with female-focused insurance company, 1st for Women and fashion designer Mantsho by Palesa Mokubung; Zozibini wants South African women to be fearless and free of the fear of judgment.
“The fearless written in the t-shirts is to help women overcome any criticism and the fear of not being enough,” she says.
“Living fearless is liberating. That’s the message I want to impart to the women of South Africa on Women’s Day and beyond,” says Zozi.
Read more | Zozibini Tunzi on overcoming rejection by learning to be fearless
“Despite the turbulence and chaos that surrounds us, we want to encourage women to resist fear, confront it and fight back against it with the ultimate intention of empowering women to realise their indomitable strength.”
The Tsolo born beauty queen explains that women have an incredible inner strength.
“We persevere and thrive through fears both seen, and unseen. And yet, we are often our own harshest critics - we fight an internal dialogue about our worth. We hold back in case we are wrong. We want women to start asking themselves “what would you do if you were fearless?”"
Although all seems to be perfect in Miss Universe’s world, Zozibini has had to conquer some of her fears. “I have had so many fears in my life. One of the recent ones being that I would be rejected by people as their Miss Universe, that I wasn't enough and would fail because I looked different to any other Miss Universe people were used to,” she says.
“But I soon realised that what I thought was my weakness was actually my strength. I tapped into it and I owned who I am completely. Now I am confident, comfortable, and fearless because I turned my fear into a strength.”