17 March 2022
1300hrs CAT
ZIM GBC NEWS
Charlene Thabisile Mguni
www.zimgbcmedia.co.zw
ZIM GBC ENTERTAINMENT features former model and former Miss Zimbabwe Britta Masalethulini, who was a beauty Queen at her prime time.
Modeling is career path that had been looked down upon by many African parents.
Years ago modeling focused on beauty pageants. Contestants would compete in a bid to be crowned as “the most beautiful” amongst other women.
It has taken a different turn as a model promotes products or helps a brand deliver a message through their visual appearance. They work for a variety of clients and reasons such as posing for artists, modeling clothing apparel, or as extras in a commercial.
At the turn of the century models have been used as pillars of transformation of objects to make them familiar things. Models can help you visualize, or picture in your mind, something that is difficult to see or understand. Models can help scientists communicate their ideas, understand processes, and make predictions.
In today’s world modelling and beauty pageants are still taking centre stage and the popularity has grown as men have joined the band wagon contesting in such sport.
Beauty pageants such as Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss/Mr (Country) are amongst other pageants that are still prevalent.
Britta Maselethulini is a Zimbabwean born model who rose to fame in 1999 after being crowned Miss Zimbabwe.
Masalethulini was born on 11 March 1976, and grew up on a cattle ranch called Ingwe, a farm on the outskirts of Harare. She was popularly referred to as a “farm or country girl”.
Her journey to modeling began at a younger age of 6 years old.
At the age of 9 years she participated in a children’s pageant called Miss Muffet and clinched it.
Her beauty captured the eyes of producers and she soon was into television were she showcased her acting skills, in commercials and short films.
In 1999, she focused fully into her modeling career were she took part in the Miss Zimbabwe pageant.
Masalethulini competed for Miss Zimbabwe when she was a student at Harare Polytechnic studying toward graphic designing diploma.
She won the pageant and was crowned the Queen, Miss Zimbabwe 1999.
This was only the highlight of her modeling career. She was soon to partake, in 2001, at the Malaika pageantry held in Sun City, South Africa.
The Pageant featured 27 beauty queens from all over Africa who were contesting to be crowned as the most beautiful woman on the continent.
Britta came first beating the other 26 contestants to be crowned Miss Malaika 2001.
The Pageant came with a prize tag of the Miss Malaika Crown accompanied by US$ 200 000 and a new Mercedes Benz Kompressor.
Her life was changed forever, popularity was the order of the day as fame took her to the whole of Africa.
She toured the continent and as well as other countries such as the United States of America.
However soon after her reign as Miss Malaika, Britta resigned from pageantry life to focus on being a full time business woman.
She then became an image consultant as well as another business of manufacturing chemical detergents.
She was once employed at Philip Chiyangwa’s Pinnacle Properties.
However, being in the public eye came with a lot of controversies on her daily life.
Masalethulini became embroiled in sexual controversies as she is alleged to have been Gideon Gono’s mistress.
Gideon Gono is the former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor, who reigned during the country’s hyper galloping inflationary era.
Reports further claimed that Gono had wanted to customarily marry Masalethulini, however Gono’s wife was said to have put a stop to the affair.
Masalethulini then silenced her critics and put a stop to the Gono allegations when she gave birth to her first daughter in 2007 and the father of the child was Tongai Kasukuwere, Saviour Kasukuwere’s cousin.
The word in the air maintained that it could still be Gono’s child because of the allegations of them being lovebirds.
Masalethulini had another child in 2009 whose father is unknown and in 2014 she also had a child with Tarirai Mngangagwa, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s nephew.
While the pageantry world brought with glitz and glamour, it was not alike with her relationships as it was reported that in 2014, Masalethulini took Tarirai Mnangagwa to court claiming that he was physically abusive towards her.
Britta made history in Zimbabwe, as she was and still is the only Miss Malaika to come from Zimbabwe.
Brita’s other achievements in the Pageantry world were, Miss Harare Polytechnic, Miss Harare, Miss Lucky 7 Zimbabwe, Top Model Zimbabwe, Second Princess, Miss Lucky 7 International.
Masalethulini is currently working at Capitalk FM as a radio presenter and she is still a business woman focusing on consultant image and mentorship.
ZIM GBC NEWS