South African actress Nonhle Thema penned a touching tribute to her mom, Cynthia Shange, on what would have been her 77th birthday, via an Instagram post on 27 July.
NONHLE THEMA PENS B-DAY TRIBUTE TO CYNTHIA SHANGE
Actress Nonhle Thema, one of the children of the late iconic beauty queen Cynthia Shange, took to Instagram to pen a touching tribute to her on what would have been her 77th birthday. Cynthia Shange, who was the first Black South African to represent the country at the Miss World (1972), passed away on 20 April this year in KwaZulu-Natal, after facing an illness. Cynthia hails from Lamontville in KwaZulu-Natal.
She was married to professional soccer player and journalist Derrick Thema. Cynthia was a mother of four – two daughters Sihle and Nonhle and two sons Ayanda and Benele Thema.
Nonhle expressed that her mom’s legacy lives on. Take a look…
“Happy Heavenly Birthday 🎂to a Queen my Mom👸🏽 ‘Cynthia Philisiwe Shange. Today she would be turning 77 on the 27th of the 7th month of the year, 777 being the number of completion🙏🏽. She finished her race strong on earth and is forever in our hearts ♥️♥️♥️Thank you Ma 🕊️🕯️Your Legacy lives on 🇿🇦, you are loved you will forever be remembered ✨Royalty 👑,” she wrote.
WHY CYNTHIA SHANGE WAS SUCH AN ICONIC PUBLIC FIGURE IN SOUTH AFRICA
Cynthia Shange represented South Africa at Miss World. but she was not Miss SA. The first black woman to be crowned Miss SA was Jacqui Mofokeng in 1993. However, Cynthia won the Miss Natal title and thereafter became Miss Africa South, which afforded her the opporunity to compete at the Miss World pageant as Miss Africa South. At the time, there were two beauty titles in South Africa, due to apartheid.