Ruta Sechaba Bursary recipient sets tongues wagging with phenomenal achievements   While her fellow learners are swotting hard for the current exams, 18-year-old matriculant Oratilwe Mashigo from Curro Academy Pretoria is busy juggling her studies with several charitable organisations that she founded whilst still at school. The Mamelodi schoolgirl joined Curro as a proud Ruta Sechaba Bursary recipient and quickly made a good impression, achieving high marks in both academics and sports. She was elected head prefect in Grade 7 but if that wasn’t enough, she simultaneously founded Sandpaper Victors, a non-profit organisation that focuses on the mental and emotional well-being of learners who may experience difficulties at home.

“After my father’s untimely passing, I was raised by my mother from the age of 12 and experienced first-hand how challenging it can be to concentrate on schoolwork when things at home are not steady. I was also born with a stutter which made life so much more difficult for both me and my mom,” says Oratilwe.

Oratilwe Mashigo

Not just a pretty face

Her speech impediment didn’t thwart her passion for public speaking and advocacy though. Over her few short years, Oratilwe has hosted the first Curro Academy Pretoria school debate, undertaken plenty of public and motivational speaking opportunities for Sandpaper Victors NPC and has even become a radio presenter.

“I had always wanted to work in television and advocate for the youth but at first I thought my stutter would stand against me. I slowly learned that it shouldn’t and have since proudly become the first radio host on Unisa’s Teen Talk show,” she laughs.

In 2019, at the age of 15, she registered for her first pageant, Miss Teenager South Africa, and was crowned First Princess, becoming the youngest titleholder. Even then, she was always looking for the next best thing. Three months later, Oratilwe was internationally scouted to become South Africa’s first representative at the Miss Teen Global Beauty pageant in Brazil. “I am so proud of my community and everyone who made my trip to Brazil possible, they all played an enormous role in my journey,” she says.

As one of the youngest contestants, she was once again awarded the titles Miss Teen Global Beauty Congeniality and Miss Teen Global Beauty Cordiality and made it to the top seven internationally. Not letting the awards get to her head, she instead used her pageantry exposure to craft media and entertainment opportunities for other less fortunate youth.

She founded her own pageant coaching company, OM Pageant Coaching and in another attempt to give back to her local community, recently partnered with Black Chair Events to host the first-ever Little Miss Denlyn Mall and Little and Miss Teen Denlyn Mall. The idea was to give other young teenagers similar opportunities to what she was afforded.

“As a school we are incredibly proud of Oratilwe’s amazing extracurricular activities.  Her passion to succeed against all odds and determination to uplift and empower others around her is inspirational and a clear example that anything is impossible if you approach it with the right attitude and grasp opportunities with both hands. We wish her the very best for the final exams and are excited to see what she achieves after Matric,” concludes Johan Goosen, Executive Head at Curro Academy Pretoria.