Zozibini Tunzi’s 2019 Miss SA Femicide Speech Resurfaces Amid Kempton Park Killings

• A 2019 clip of Zozibini Tunzi-Bolowana calling out perpetrators at Miss South Africa resurfaced on social media
• The footage went viral as South Africa grapples with nine women's bodies found in Kempton Park since July 2026
• The post's caption captured a heartbreaking truth: Zozibini's words from seven years ago still ring painfully relevant today

A clip of Zozibini Tunzi-Bolowana's bold speech on gender-based violence at the 2019 Miss South Africa pageant has found a painful new audience. Instagram user @kaonemodimo shared the footage on 17 September 2026 alongside a caption that stopped many South Africans in their tracks.

"2019 and we still going through it, if not worse. Cry, my beloved country."

The clip captures the moment the former Miss South Africa, who went on to be crowned Miss Universe that same year, stepped into a deeply uncomfortable conversation rather than away from it. Instead of celebrating, she used her platform to call out the silence surrounding the country's femicide crisis.

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"We have absolutely no reason to keep smiling because South African women are dying every day and most people are doing nothing about it. I think it's time we stop telling women what to do and start asking perpetrators to do better, to do better and to start treating women the way they deserve to be treated."

Zozibini Tunzi's message resonates seven years on

The former beauty queen also pushed back against the deeply ingrained cultural habit of placing responsibility for safety on women's shoulders. Her closing words were blunt and unambiguous.

"It's not up to us. It's up to the perpetrators to start doing right."

What made the resurfaced footage particularly devastating was its context. The clip circulated as South Africa reeled from the discovery of nine women's bodies in Kempton Park since July 2026, with police investigations still ongoing. Communities have grown increasingly vocal in their demands for systemic change as the death toll climbs.

Zozibini's activism has not remained confined to pageant stages. In 2025, she joined thousands of women at the Women For Change march, a nationwide demonstration against gender-based violence and femicide.

Since her reign as Miss Universe, Tunzi-Bolowana has continued to use her platform to advocate for social change. She has spoken at various events and has been involved in campaigns addressing gender equality.

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The fact that her 2019 speech continues to travel so powerfully across social media platforms speaks to a grim reality: the words she chose seven years ago have not aged into irrelevance. For many South Africans, they have only grown heavier.

Watch Zozibini Tunzi-Bolowana's speech below.

Anele Zondo speaks on femicide crisis

In an earlier report, Briefly News shared Anele Zondo's heartbreaking message in response to the latest killings in Kempton Park.

As more women's bodies were found, the musician and media personality reflected on the 2025 march, saying nothing had changed.

Source: Briefly News