Thando Nomthandazo Mbokazi-Dlomo, wife of South African Ambassador to Mexico Dennis Thokozani Dlomo. Photo: South African Embassy

By THÉRÈSE MARGOLIS

Thando Nomthandazo Mbokazi-Dlomo, wife of South African Ambassador to Mexico Dennis Thokozani Dlomo, was just named a semi-finalist in the Mrs. Royal International Pageant, a prestigious African beauty competition.

Thando Nomthandazo Mbokazi-Dlomo, wife of South African Ambassador to Mexico Dennis Thokozani Dlomo. Photo: South African Embassy

Mbokazi-Dlomo, who last year was a finalist in the Mrs. South Africa competition, was selected as one of 31 Mrs. Royal International semi-finalists on Saturday, May 14. The Royal International Pageant, based in South Africa, is dividing into three divisions: Teen, Miss and Mrs. The winner of the Mrs. Royal International Pageant, the first-ever competition in this division, will represent South Africa in the Mrs. Universe in Miami. South Africa’s first Mrs. Royal International Pageant will be crowned at the finals at Hilton Hotel in Johannesburg on Saturday, Nov. 26.

The annual Mrs. Universe competition, which was first organized in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2007, is an international beauty pageant that focuses on married contestants. The competition is open to married, divorced and widowed women ages 18 to 55 from nations on all continents around the world.

A native of the KwaMashu township, just north of Durban, Mbokazi-Dlomo has worked as a project officer in the KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa, and was a business advisor for Tradepoint South Africa, before joining the Gagasi FM radio team as a content producer.

In 2014, she was named appointment secretary for then-South African Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services Siyabonga Cwele and began working as a freelance journalist at Ukhasi newspaper, focusing primarily on business features.

One year later, she was recruited to work under then-South African President Jacob Zuma, and later joined the AIDS Foundation of South Africa.

In 1994, Mbokazi-Dlomo broke away from government work to begin a career in modelling and with the Ruebo Models agency.

So far, she has competed in nine beauty pageants.