Durban - For 17-year-old Swazi Simelane helping young people deal with mental illnesses including stress and depression is crucial in preventing substance abuse and the rate of crime in the country.
Recently crowned Miss Teen Charm South Africa 2022 and Durban Girls’ High School Grade 12 pupil, Simelane believes that youth are quite often pressured by family, friends and circumstances to accomplish much - without financial backing.
While modelling is something she does on the side, her main goal is to work toward becoming a dermatologist. However, in the near future the teen is set to represent SA in Colombia.
“I will be representing South Africa and my work in the community will be looked at when assessing who will be crowned Miss Teen Charm internationally. It is important to note that pageantry isn’t just about beauty, it also is about brains and intelligence.
Pageantry empowers females and advocates for beauty and brains which makes a difference in the world,” she said.
“Job creation and mental health is my focus. I was listening to the news one day and heard about the low employment rate in the country. This troubled me because I thought about what would happen if I was in that situation once I complete my schooling. I knew that a change would be needed.
“Then I realised mental health is linked to this because not having a job can affect one’s mental health,” she said.
Recently, Simelane has been focusing on unemployed youth with children and has donated clothing and shoes in an effort to relieve them of the pressure to provide.
“The donations came purely from myself and my family. We managed to gather many items that were usable for those in need. I also volunteer my time at baby homes and other organisations to help where I can,” said Simelane.
Creating young entrepreneurs, Simelane has been involved in a business competition which enabled her to encourage youth to start their own business.
“I entered because of my best friend who encouraged me and joined a team. We won for our idea to assist the elderly in the community and identified what they had been lacking and provided it. Going through the process helped me to better understand business and now I hope to help young entrepreneurs with the skills I learnt,” she said.
She hopes to work with more local brands to spread her message to the country, in particular young girls.
She said: “I believe a lot in being yourself and appreciating your roots and where you come from. Being able to support local businesses will help grow the economy and decrease unemployment.”
The teen is hosting a fund-raiser High Tea at Musgrave Coastlands Hotel, in Durban, on May 14, 2022 at 10am to raise funds for her trip to Colombia.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE