Two Kwazakhele siblings have claimed the 2023 Little Mr and Miss PE/Gqeberha and Little Mr and Miss Eastern Cape crowns after strutting their stuff on the catwalk while blazing another trail as charity warriors.
Ukhanyo, 5, and Minentle Sondzaba, 8, turned heads again on Saturday after stealing the show at a Top Model of the Year event hosted by Sophisticate Models at the Boardwalk.
Ukhanyo placed third in his category while his sister, Greenwood Primary School pupil Minentle, claimed the crown.
RoleModels Foundation nonprofit organisation (NPO) fundraising co-ordinator Juanita Smit lauded them for their confidence and charitable nature.
“I think they are confident for their age,” Smit said.
“They have been raised in an atmosphere of helping others, which I think is incredible.
“You cannot raise children, living in this country, with blinkers on.
“These two are confident, well-adjusted children.”
The NPO focuses on the eradication of poverty and the support of abuse victims, launching projects across SA as vehicles for outreach programmes.
The NPO held its fourth food drive, with seven provinces building a food tower.
“RoleModels Foundation, with the assistance of the respective provincial teams, selects other nonprofit organisations across the country to receive the collected food items,” Smit said.
“This year, the Eastern Cape won the trophy for the biggest food tower, collecting 13.6 tonnes.
“Gauteng followed with 6.2 tonnes and Limpopo with 1.4 tonnes.
“The Eastern Cape team was led by Mrs PE 2022 Suzanne Wylde and Mrs PE 2023 Christie-Leigh Gouws.
“The Mzantzi pageant title-holders and other community volunteers have been sourcing food items since September.”
Smit said it was important for those in the pageant industry to support charity as the siblings had done since they started with pageantry.
“Both Minentle and Ukhanyo are wonderful examples of youngsters being raised to nurture those in need.”
Their mother, Weziwe, expressed immense pride in her children’s involvement in the undertaking.
“They have been involved in charity since they started participating in pageants — Minentle in 2021 and Ukhanyo in 2023,” she said.
“It brings me great pride as a parent to see my children making a difference in other people’s lives at such a young age.”
Ukhanyo, who took up modelling at the age of four in January, won the Mr Eastern Cape Primary Schools, Tiny Mr PE/Gqeberha and Tiny Mr Eastern Cape titles in 2023, and Minentle emerged as the Miss Eastern Cape Primary Schools grade 1 winner in 2022.
She went on to win the 2023 Little Miss Eastern Cape and Miss Eastern Cape Primary Schools titles.
HeraldLIVE
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