Tiyani Makamu crowned Miss South Africa 2026

Tiyani Makamu has been crowned Miss South Africa 2026 at a lavish ceremony in Johannesburg on November 14, replacing Qhawekazi Mazaleni as the reigning titleholder. Born in Bronkhorstspruit, Gauteng, the 27-year-old succeeds her predecessor as a symbol of female leadership and empowerment in the nation.

Makamu is a group digital lead and client success executive, and also the founder of Hubsela, a platform designed to back entrepreneurs and small businesses. Her endeavors focus on entrepreneurship, skills development, youth unemployment, and enhancing access to education and economic prospects.

In the final question-and-answer segment of the competition, the Top Three finalists were posed a challenge: how to bridge the divide between identifying solutions to South Africa’s problems and ensuring their execution. Makamu emphasized the significance of collaboration and partnerships between public and private sectors as the key to effecting change.

She stated, “The challenge lies in partnerships. We can identify the challenge, it is the responsibility of others to form the system that solves the challenge.” She further elaborated that uniting the public sector, corporate businesses, and various industries would be pivotal to tackling the country’s issues. “Through collaboration and partnership, we build systems that follow through and have a clear path to our flexibility and key performance indicators,” she added.

As the new Miss South Africa, Makamu secures a R1 million cash prize and R500,000 in dedicated impact funding for her initiatives. Her victory arrives amidst a period of transformation for the Miss South Africa organization, which has emphasized leadership, entrepreneurship, and social impact as key focus areas for the titleholder.