The Sunday News
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
FOR a top model, Charlotte Muziri has modest dreams. For example, amongst her top list of priorities, during her year-long reign as Zimbabwe’s top beauty queen, is to gift her mother, an agricultural extension worker, with an irrigation scheme whose benefits are to be enjoyed by, not just her, but the other women in her community.
Next on her list of prioritise would be to get her siblings a decent education. She was born in Chivi, district, Masvingo Province.
“My mum is a farmer. She is an agricultural extension officer and I want to put an irrigation scheme for her because that’s her passion,” she told Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN) in an interview.
“I know that with that farm she is also going to help a lot of women because she is really willing to empower others. I have siblings that are unfortunately not as lucky to be where I am today. I would also love to give them a chance to shine and give them a good education.
I also have other people who are not from my family but are from my family, that I would like to help. I grew up in a lot of different places and I have realised that education is important and they need that platform as well. So, at least in one school I want to change the lives of people there.”
In the world of modelling, that notoriously fast world of high fashion and couture, Muziri’s ambitions might seem odd and somewhat lackluster. When one pictures beauty queens, they usually would not think that combine harvesters and farming equipment rank high on their wish-list.
A beauty queen that dreams of such practical necessities, even in a country that underwent such an aggressive land revolution like Zimbabwe, might seem to lack the right sprinkling of pizzazz that many rightfully associate with the crown.
However, Muziri is not your ordinary top model. The holder of a BSc Honours degree in Rural and Urban Planning from the University of Zimbabwe, she walked away with the crown in what was her first ever high-profile pageant in Harare last week.
“Honestly, I’m still trying to process it. One minute I’m like oh wow that really happened then the next I’m like there’s a lot of responsibility that’s coming so it’s still a bit overwhelming but I am really honoured.
So, town planning, is a profession that I went to school for but modelling is something that I have a passion for. So, this something that I have wanted to try for a while now and this year was the year that I decided to go for it. This was my first ever pageant.
“Every day I’m questioning myself and trying to figure out how I’m going to carry this responsibility but I think with the people I work with at Miss Zimbabwe it’s going to be a very beautiful journey. To me this is a platform that is going to open many doors.
This is a platform that will make my voice heard by many people and a platform that will allow me to have a positive impact and allow me to make somethings work for others. To me it’s just an honour that will allow me to help a lot of people while allowing me to grow as well,” she said.
The first woman to win the Miss Zimbabwe crown after a four-year hiatus, Muziri knows that the crown does not come without expectation. In the past, it has also been mired by controversy, with many a beauty queen deposed before the crown had barely settled on their heads. It is a trend that Muziri wants to reverse.
“It is a heavy crown. I think that resonates with the responsibility that comes with it and it’s a reminder that there a lot that is going to happen. It is a reminder that there’s a lot that is going to happen and my mind and body needs to be ready.
Mentally I’m trying to adjust because I know people have a lot of different opinions. I know there are saying a lot of things already but I thank God I have supportive family.
“I have people that are ready to say anytime if something is not sitting well with you, even if it’s at 2AM, call me and I will talk to you.
I have a praying family and my mother always says that as long as you use your knees, God will always answer and he will not give you responsibilities that you are not capable of carrying. Entering Miss Zimbabwe, I wanted to make an impacted and footprint in reviving pageantry in Zimbabwe because it’s been a while I since we have had a Miss Zimbabwe.
I want to try to restore the dignity of the crown. I want to do something that’s tangible and have people said she did this,” she said.
While Muziri has her beauty queen hat firmly on these days, the town and rural planner in her sometimes rears its thoughtful head. It is perhaps for this reason why she is passionate about helping to foster environmentally responsible mining during her reign.
“I’m a fan of environmental sustainability and I worked at Vungu Rural District Council for my attachment and I realised that a lot of people that are contributing to the adverse environmental effects are doing so not because they want to but because they are being driven to make a living through the environment. There’s mining as people is trying to find income and, in that manner, they also degrade the environment. I would really love a project whereby they are making an income but also giving back to the environment that they are using. It should be a give and take cycle,” she said.
As she prepares to become the face of Zimbabwe in global pageants, Muziri said she felt she was up to the task.
“Being chosen amongst the 12 (final contestants) is already a blessing because its hard work, its preparation and everything. I also believe it is destiny and when God chooses you it meant to be…God placed in the judge’s minds that I should carry this crown and honestly, I think I contributed anything but I think in his time God makes everything perfect,” she said.
Loraine Maphala
Since 1980, Zimbabwe has witnessed the crowning of Shirley Nyanyiwa (1980), Juliet Nyathi (1981), Caroline Murinda (1982), Anne Marie Mombeyarara (1992), Karen Stally (1993), Angeline Musasiwa (1994), Dione Best (1995), Nomusa Ndiweni (1996), Una Patel (1997), Annette Kambarami (1998), Brita Masalethulini (1999), Victoria Moyo (2000), Nokuthula Mpuli (2001), Linda Van Beek (2002), Phoebe Monjane (2003), Oslie Muringai (2004), Loraine Maphala (2005), Nomsa Ndiweni (2006), Caroline Marufu (2007), Vanessa Sibanda (2009), Samantha Tshuma (2010), Malaika Mushandu (2011), Bongani Dlakama (2012), Thabiso Phiri (2014), Cathrine Makaya (2015), Annie Grace Mutambu (2015, Chiedza Mhosva (2017), Belinda Potts (2018).
