08/09/2026
For Sinekamva Booi, the Miss Tembisa Pageant is about more than competing for a crown. It is an opportunity to use her voice, represent the community she now calls home and advocate for issues affecting young people.
Booi, a learner at Masiqhakaze Secondary School, is currently a semifinalist in the Miss Tembisa competition. Originally from Butterworth in the Eastern Cape, she is now based in Thembisa, a community she says has welcomed her and become her second home.
“I am currently based in Thembisa, a vibrant community that has welcomed me, shaped me and become my second home,” says Booi.
The young aspiring beauty queen describes herself as a passionate crocheter, saying the creative activity brings her joy, peace and an opportunity to express herself through working with her hands.
Her passion for making a difference is also what drew her towards pageantry. She explains, “I saw pageantry not just as beauty but as a powerful tool to become the voice for the voiceless by utilising the platform of my advocacies,”
Her main advocacy focuses on anti-bullying campaigns in schools and promoting cultural diversity. Booi believes that Thembisa's diverse population provides an opportunity to demonstrate how people from different backgrounds can live together and build stronger communities.
She hopes to use her platform to encourage young people to reject bullying, discrimination and exclusion while embracing the different cultures that make up Tembisa.
If she is crowned Miss Tembisa, Booi says she wants to serve as a role model and servant leader for young people in the community.
“My role would be a servant leader, a role model, and a voice for the youth of Tembisa,” she says.
She also wants to represent the township with pride and dignity while encouraging young people to believe in themselves and their potential.
Booi is currently appealing to the Thembisa community to support her during the voting stage of the competition. She believes residents should vote for her because her ambitions extend beyond winning a title.
“The Thembisa community should vote for me because I am not just contesting for a crown, but for a cause,” she says.
For Booi, one of the most important messages she wants to share is that no young person should be made to feel inferior because of where they come from, the language they speak or their appearance.
“Let us be kind to one another. Your background, your language, your appearance, or where you come from should never be a reason to be bullied or excluded,” she says.
She believes Thembisa's strength lies in its diversity and wants to see a community where young people feel accepted regardless of their backgrounds.
“Whether you are from eGcuwa or you were born in Thembisa, we are one,” Booi says.
Although she has not yet launched any formal projects, Booi says her journey is still at an early stage, and she is currently balancing her pageant responsibilities with her schoolwork.
As her platform develops, she hopes to turn her advocacy into practical initiatives, particularly anti-bullying campaigns in schools and programmes that promote cultural understanding among young people.
Booi says her own experience of coming from the Eastern Cape and building a life in Thembisa has helped shape her understanding of belonging and identity.
“As a young girl from the Eastern Cape who is residing in Thembisa, I represent many young people who are navigating two worlds, honouring where they come from while learning to belong where they are,” she says.
She hopes to become a bridge between different communities and cultures, using her voice to encourage unity and understanding.
For Booi, true beauty is not simply about appearance. It is about having the courage to speak up, uplift others and use one's platform to create positive change.
As she continues her Miss Tembisa journey, the young contestant hopes her story will inspire other young people to embrace who they are, stand against bullying and recognise the strength that comes from diversity.
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