Lehlogonolo Machaba, The first transgender woman to officially enter the South African Beauty Pageant, has made the first cut joining 29 gorgeous women as a top 30 semi-finalist.
Lehlogonolo Machaba, the only contestant from the North West, wrote in an Instagram post “I am proud to announce that I have OFFICIALLY made it to the #Top30 of #MissSA2021 thanks to all of you. This journey has been nothing but a great one and all of you have made this worthwhile. I will continue to push for change and acceptance of everyone in the LGBTQI+ community and being the first EVER TransWoman in the competition I can declare that by the grace of God TOP 15 here we come. Look out for all the information regarding voting on my next posts and Instagram stories. @official_misssa ”
Machaba. jacaranda fm reports, is from Oskraal in the North West and works as a model booker at Invade Models. She is also the founder and owner of the DeMollies fashion brand. The 24-year-old has a diploma in fashion design technology from Tshwane University of Technology.
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Her role model is her mother Caroline, who is a gender-based violence survivor and works as a supervisor of service aid at a public hospital, said Ms. Machaba.
“Transgender women are almost always ostracised from such opportunities which is why I never thought I’d see anyone like myself on such a platform. I believe that being chosen would raise hope in a lot of little girls like myself,” Machaba said.
“It has always been a dream of mine to represent my community at such a high level. The daily murder of queer and trans-identifying people in our country is devastating.
“Through the Miss SA platform, I’d be able to advocate for the LGBTQIA community and more specifically queer-identifying women. I would use this opportunity to empower every marginalised person and become a beacon of hope for young girls…”
If you are from South Africa you can vote, for a fee, as a fifth judge by clicking here.
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