The matric learner at Capricorn Secondary School was crowned Miss Teenager SA last year.

Since then, Mathebula has been balancing her academic responsibilities with her philanthropic work, where she passionately advocates for children’s rights.

She says her advocacy work stems from personal experiences of body shaming, which she now uses as fuel to fight bullying among children.

“I am an advocate for body positivity. I am very passionate about that, and also youth empowerment. This advocacy came about as I was growing up and being made fun of for being very tall and very skinny. I was very insecure about the way I looked and never liked my imperfections. But with pageantry, I was able to learn that being tall and skinny is not something to be laughed at, but actually something to be proud of,” she says.

--ChannelAfrica--