Thuli Sithole - Sustainable Beauty

While growing up, Thuli’s parents were concerned about the sustainability of a modelling career. “Beauty,” they often reminded her, “is something that can fade and leave you without a future.” But Thuli has proved them wrong. Not only has she won the coveted title of Miss South Africa, but she also plans to use the title to fuse charity and regional planning, thereby using her natural beauty to create something sustainable and lasting.

Currently working on her degree in town and regional planning, Thuli has a long list of things she hopes to achieve with this qualification. One of them is to open doors for women in the construction business. She feels that there are many opportunities for women to get their hands dirty and that it is not solely a man’s world. She also hopes to work towards incorporating more basic services into town and regional planning, with one of these basic services being Aids clinics and hospices.

Her primary project during her year of reign is the Tapologo Aids Hospice in Phokeng, Mpumalanga. Tapologo consists of ten villages where care and medication are provided to HIV/Aids patients. “Tapologo is the type of project that has become fundamental to every community. Aids is a problem that will be with us for a very long time and we need to start making provision for it,” says Thuli.

Enter POSI+IVE, a Sun International fundraising event in aid of Tapologo. In June this year Sun International will be hosting ‘POSI+IVE Rocks’, a 4-day fusion of international and local art, music and fashion, featuring a first ever South African performance by internationally renowned artist Seal. The festival runs from 8 – 11 June at Sun City and will also offer daily art exhibitions, fashion shows and performances by South African artists like Watershed, Mandoza and the Sowetan String Quartet, to name a few.

Thuli hopes to use the network that she will build up in her year as Miss SA, together with her career in town planning, to provide services to those who need them most. For Thuli, the responsibilities of being Miss SA will not end with her reign. She wants to continue serving those who desperately need help long after the limelight has faded.

Not a stranger to the bright lights and the glamour, Thuli started her modelling career at the age of eight and has never lost her passion for it. “What I enjoy about modelling is the final product and the powerful message that it holds. Once my reign is finished I would like to continue doing modelling work, but only if it is connected to something with substance,” adds Thuli.

She does not hesitate to admit that she owes her success to her parents, who, according to Thuli, went to great lengths to instil sober values in her and her younger sister. “My sister and I were far from being spoiled. We never received pocket money and had to work for everything. My dad also did not believe in taking us on holiday. He would take my mother all over the world, but my sister and I had to stay at home. He said that if we got used to five-star living we would find it hard to get a husband who could live up to those standards, so inevitably we would just be disappointed,” laughs Thuli.

Born in Sebokeng in the early eighties, she was witness to the violent protests of the time. “Still,” says Thuli, “I have wonderful memories of the time. The house was always full of people, mostly all my cousins. We used to play from morning till night, and I still have scars on my body from falling out of trees.”

Thuli’s parents had a great impact on her life and have influenced her views on everything, even cows. Yes, cows! She recalls riding in the car with her parents when she was still very young, and passing a herd of Holstein cows. Being at an inquisitive age, Thuli asked her mother why the cows were black and white. Her mother answered that the white represented the amount of milk the cow had. “To this day my mom denies telling me this story, but it is so embedded in my memory that when I see a cow with more black than white, for a split second I will think that it has no milk!” laughs Thuli.

White with milk or black without, Thuli has her head screwed on right, and it does not take you long to realise that she is not just another beauty queen. “I love doing what I’m doing at the moment; I’m really excited about my job. I didn’t know it would be such hard work but I’m getting great exposure on how businesses are run and I’m building up great contacts. Hopefully this will all help me in my career as a town planner, and to accomplish my dream of helping more people to live a better life,” says Thuli.

There you have it. The most beautiful town planner you can imagine, dead set on effecting change for the benefit of those who need it the most! We need more Thuli Sitholes!