Uyinene Mrwetyana must be smiling in heaven seeing her baby sister doing wonders on the international stage.
Hlonela and Uyinene are close cousins who called one another sisters because, in most African cultures, cousins don’t exist. If your parents are siblings, you are brothers and sisters.
East London girl Hlonela Mrwetyana made South Africa proud when she won the Miss Preteen Universe 2023 as second runner-up.
The multi-talented young star made it to Madrid, Spain, three days after the six-day-long pageant had started. But due to her resilience, she made it to the top three.
“I wish I could’ve won, but I wasn’t there for three days because my visa process was chaotic. The pageant was six days, and I missed three days because of my visa,” she told eNCA.
Although she didn’t win first place, she is still happy that she got to perform on an international stage.
“I’m very excited to see what this title has in store for me. With this title, it means that I am able to inspire more children on a bigger platform as this is an international title.”
Mrwetyana, who started modelling at 9 years old, says she wants to take a break for about four years, and when she returns, she’s gunning for even bigger titles.
“I want to venture into my other talents like singing. I just recently got into the music industry, I just want to tour the world, and after four to five years, I will enter Miss Teen Universe.”
Taking to Instagram, she thanked everyone who supported her journey and believed in her.
“The support I have seen over these past few days from my country, the African nation, and the entire universe itself is so overwhelming, I have no words. I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. South Africa, I carried you across my chest with so much pride and joy. My heart skipped a beat every time someone called me, whether it was a ‘hello South Africa’ at breakfast, during rehearsals, not to mention on that stage last night doing the Top 6 and theeeen the Top 3😳😍despite it all, whaaat? Never felt so proudly South African, so proudly AFRICAN.”
Upon her arrival in her hometown, East London, she was welcomed with a beautiful homecoming at Hemingways Mall to celebrate her new title.