Entrepreneur. Super-mom, Beauty queen. Leader. Supporter of Charities. These terms all define the dynamic Mrs. South Africa Globe 2020 winner, Mbalizethu Mkhize (41).
Based between Cape Town and Los Angeles, this down-to-earth community leader is making a difference to the youth, leaving no stone unturned in her drive to leave a legacy. Born and raised in Johannesburg, Mbalizethu’s work ethic was fostered in her childhood years. This astute businesswoman today owns and runs many successful businesses. These include a medical tourism company with offices in Los Angeles, a recruitment agency called Talent Pool, and recently launched, Venice Swimwear, a high-end luxury swimwear range available online. She’s also about to launch a beauty product label called MM Beauty.
What’s next on the cards for Mbalizethu? “I’m enrolled for Mrs Globe! Watch out world, here I come!” What’s even better is having her son, Ahang Leqola (18), follow in her footsteps as he takes on a lead role in their very own foundation known as the “SB Mkhize Foundation”.
The SB Mkhize Foundation was established in honour of her late father, who himself was an orphan. Mbalizethu shares, “My father was an orphan, and a child slave made it against all odds, his spirit was never broken, he was an optimist, compassionate, he made it his life’s mission to make sure that every child has an opportunity to education because this is what saved his future, his favourite saying was “education level the playing fields”. As much as Mbalizethu and her son have been working in partnership at the foundation, she is allowing him to take the reigns moving forward. “The foundation is his baby. Every project and partnership formed is because of his hard work and he will continue to drive the foundation forward with his on-going passion for it,” Mbalizethu explains.
From a young age, Ahang has always wanted to give back to his community. Having lost his father at the tender age of 5, he strives to constantly make a difference in this world through all his community projects and now his main focus is the projects he has created through the SB Mkhize Foundation. He has currently partnered the foundation with various other initiatives. With providing education as a driving force of the SB Mkhize Foundation, his partnership with the American International School of Cape Town supports this by offering tutorial services to children every week. The school has also supported his second partnership with the Gracie Love in a Bowl initiative.
This initiative is solely focused on growing organic foods and supplying these to various orphanages. The school supports the SB Mkhize Foundation and the Gracie Love in a Bowl initiative by buying various organic vegetables – all the proceeds from that goes back into the project to ensure they can constantly keep supplying those in need with fresh, organic vegetables. Another impressive partnership that Ahang has created is one with the Constantia Rotary Club where he has formed a team to support him and the foundation. Recently being accepted into one of America’s Ivy League schools, Ahang is relocating to New York from June and will join the New York Rotary Club and both will continue to raise funds to support the various initiatives of the SB Mkhize Foundation.
With strong family values and a heart of gold, there is no doubt that Mrs South Africa Globe winner, Mbalizethu, is proud of her son’s on-going success. “I have always instilled in my son that he should follow his passion – whatever that may be and I will always be there to support him,” Mbalizethu dotes. In running for the Miss Globe title, Mbalizethu continues to strive for women empowerment – a strong belief of the Miss Globe competition – and she does so through her many entrepreneurial endeavours such as her latest partnership with Skin Renewal. Together they have opened up an academy called the “Touch of Class” which is all about image consulting and empowering young women to be the best possible versions of themselves.
For more information on the SB Mkhize Foundation and Mbalizethu’s journey to Mrs Globe 2020, you can follow her on social media @mbalizethu_mkhize and her son on @ahangleqola on Instagram.
ENDS