When she won Miss South Africa in 2020, Shudufhadzo Musiḓa (25), launched a mental health initiative and wrote her first book to teach children about mental health from a young age. A published author, mental health advocate, and a Public Relations (University of Witwatersrand) and Social Science in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (University of Pretoria) graduate, Musiḓa is the first woman from the province of Limpopo to win Miss SA and the first to secure the title with a bald head. She is also one of the public figures who have opened up about their mental health issues and raised awareness of the illness. 

She was compared to previous titleholders and not everyone warmed up to her when she stepped into reign. “When I entered Miss South Africa, it was never about the glitz and glamour, mind you, I was just a nerd who couldn’t even walk in heels to begin with. But I knew that my purpose and the why [sic] for entering Miss SA was to lead a life of service,” Musiḓa says.

Trauma from being bullied 

Musiḓa has always been open about the bullying she experienced growing up and how it affected her mental health. “The bullying happened when I moved to a new school. Before the age of nine, I was a bubbly little girl, but then people found it okay to bring me down at a time when I was only trying to discover myself. The ramifications were enormous,” she says. The bullying she endured made her dress like a boy trying to shrink herself.

“It got to the point where I thought if I covered up and didn’t draw too much attention to myself, maybe it would stop. I developed low [a] self-esteem, and it took me a long time to realise that it was actually never about me but about the people who were doing the bullying,” she adds.

Tackling mental health issues

Fast forward to February 2021, a few months after being crowned Miss SA, she launched a mental health initiative called Mindful Mondays, where she partnered with the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) to start conversations around mental health.

“For me, mental health is something that is not well spoken about. Unfortunately, it is considered a taboo subject that is often engaged with, not to rehabilitate but to shame, so I wanted to bring that conversation into the open. It’s time our society stands together to confront this,” Musiḓa explains. 

She adds that her initiative was meant to dismantle the stigma around mental illness, “Mindful Mondays was brought about as an education programme. Many people feel like they are alone or shamed when they live with a mental illness or are struggling with their mental health. We don’t really have enough conversations around it, so Mindful Mondays was like a tool. Not only to educate but let people know that they’re not alone.”

Before that, she had to unpack the trauma caused by bullying and have conversations with herself. The Venda beauty queen explains that reading self-motivational books like the Four Agreements changed her life because she realised that there was nothing wrong with her and it was not her fault she was bullied.

She’s aware that it brought about a lot of anxiety and says, “But I learned to deal with that. I learned to understand that bullying is a much deeper psychological problem that does not reflect only on the person being bullied but also on the bully.”  

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How Eurocentric beauty standards contribute to mental health issues

Mental health is a major issue in our societies, and while some people still don’t understand it, others are not aware that they suffer from it. Unfortunately, mental illness doesn’t have a face or obvious symptoms.

Some factors that contribute to mental health are how the media defines beauty. Black women are more susceptible to pressure because of Western beauty standards. That has also affected young Black girls and how they view themselves.

Musiḓa says as much as the media is slowly opening up, there’s still more to be done to ensure that Black women and young girls are well represented. “There is a video that always pops up on my Instagram explore page. This beautiful little brown girl is getting her hair done and this lady that’s doing her hair is taking a video singing along, and it’s such a beautiful moment until she looks into the camera and says, ‘I’m so ugly.’ As a six-year-old, how do you know what ugly looks like?” 

“And that goes to the representation that is being put out there in the media of what a beautiful Black woman is supposed to look like. I think the media could be doing so much more. Mainstream spaces could be showing the different kinds of beauties that exist, and that beauty is not defined by world standards,” she adds. 

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Raising awareness for mental health as a public figure

As a public figure and to remind people that they’re not alone, Musiḓa had the task of raising awareness of issues surrounding mental health.

“When you’re a public figure there’s a lot of pressure, but fortunate [sic] enough, it takes people realising that the people they see as prominent figures, we’re all human, we’re all the same in equal regards. Speak about mental health, speak about ways to protect women and young children in gender equality,” she says. 

And of course, she couldn’t leave children out because most people suffer from mental health issues due to traumas they faced as children. In September last year, she launched a book titled ‘Shudu Finds her Magic’ aimed at children aged between the ages of four and nine. The book was inspired by her childhood experiences.

“I wanted children to know that they’re not alone. That the biggest tool that we have in our arsenal as human beings as we get older should know the biggest tool is kindness and communication. Their voices matter, and I wanted to introduce mental health to them and what it means in ways that they could understand. We worked with child psychologists to make sure that it caters for that and translates that,” she explains. 

Musiḓa’s initiative Mindful Mondays won the best Beauty With A Purpose project along with India, England, Kenya, the Philippines and the USA at the 70th edition of the Miss World pageant in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The former beauty queen chooses to live a private life. "I don’t allow myself to succumb to the pressure,” says Musiḓa on protecting her mental health, “and when I feel like I am, which is perfectly normal too, I take a step back and realign my values and who I am and why I’m even in this space.”

Musiḓa reminds everyone that although they may be in a dark place feeling all alone, there’s always someone willing to listen. A lot of people understand how you feel, and if you need help, SADAG is always there to help.