Sonwabiso Mayedwa, 33, from Qonce, has been surrounded by powerful women her whole life, and surprisingly — a lot of the letter S.
Of her three siblings, her own children, her nieces and nephews, all have names that start with the letter.
And her husband’s too.
The semifinalist for Mrs SA 2025, the first-ever pageant she has entered, is the only contestant that still lives in the Eastern Cape.
The competition announced its field of 101 semifinalists in February. With a few dropouts, this figure is now 96.
Mrs SA COO Marlene Reddy-Ribeiro said: “Mrs SA is about self-discovery, and overcoming any self-limiting beliefs to own your power and achieve your personal goals.
“More than just a pageant, Mrs SA’s main purpose is to equip women with hands-on leadership and communication skills.”
The contestants — aged 25 to 55 — will spend most of the year in an intensive programme of personal development.
Mayedwa said: “I was so excited. I said to myself, ‘This is the start of a new chapter in my life.’
“Then I was overwhelmed with anxiety, ‘Am I going to be able to deliver and represent the Eastern Cape on the level I envision?’ So it was a mix of emotions but mostly excitement for the journey ahead.”
Mayedwa is an entrepreneur, paralegal practitioner, early childhood development practitioner, wife and mother of three.
She runs a small beauty business, Simply beYoutiful, with her mother, but has had a thriving career as a financial consultant, personal assistant and government employee.
She met her husband, Sandiso, at a school rugby match as a grade 10 pupil at Kingsridge High School for Girls when he was in matric at Dale College Boy’s High School. Their children now attend both schools.
“As a Seventh-Day Adventist I would never watch rugby because we would be at church on Saturdays, but on this day, it was during the week and my mom was in a meeting so I waited for her at the match.
“I was walking to the tuck shop with a friend, he was walking with his friends in the opposite direction, we Iocked eyes, and I said ‘oh my gosh’.
“I looked back, he looked back, and he caught me! Later, he asked a mutual friend for my number and we chatted on Mxit, but he had a girlfriend, so we remained friends.
“When I was in matric, we started seeing each other and have been together ever since.”
Mayedwa said her husband was such a thoughtful man and very supportive of her Mrs SA journey, and would help her brainstorm and prepare for upcoming duties.
“I had never done pageantry before. I stepped into it because of my sister-in-law, a former Mrs SA semifinalist for 2023, Busisiwe Dladla, she encouraged me.
“She found it so beneficial, she loved the programme, the training, how you upskill, she wanted to share this journey with me so that I could have the experience.
“I would love to encourage every woman in the Eastern Cape to enter so we can have more Eastern Cape representation, I’m the only one [living] here.”
For the next few months, Mayedwa will attend events and workshops with the other contestants.
In July, the first round of cuts takes the competition to 30 finalists, who will continue until they compete in the finale in November where the new Mrs SA will be crowned.
“As much as it’s a competition, it’s all about sisterhood as the journey unwinds.
“It’s about empowerment — tapping into passions you may have forgotten about and reigniting them. It’s lovely to share this with other women,” Mayedwa said.
Her other passion is helping children.
- To vote, like, share and SMS SONWABISO MAYEDWA TO 47587 at the cost of R3 per sms.
Daily Dispatch