JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — 15 November 2026. Tiyani Makamu has won Miss South Africa 2026, taking the title at the Sandton Convention Centre on Saturday, 14 November. The communications professional and entrepreneur from Bronkhorstspruit, Gauteng, succeeds Qhawekazi Mazaleni.
The Miss South Africa Organisation confirmed the result in its 15 November announcement. Makamu, whom the organisation identifies as 27, begins her tenure with an advocacy focus on entrepreneurship, skills development and access to opportunities for women and young people.
Who is Tiyani Makamu, Miss South Africa 2026?
Makamu is a communications professional and entrepreneur from Bronkhorstspruit in Gauteng who won the national title on 14 November. She founded Hubsela, a platform supporting entrepreneurs, and her advocacy centres on business development, skills and access to economic opportunities for women and young people.
Makamu’s official contestant profile describes her as a Pearson Institute of Higher Education graduate working as a group digital lead and client success executive. It identifies her as the founder of Hubsela, which supports entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Her stated interests connect business development with youth unemployment and access to education. Rather than presenting entrepreneurship as a single intervention, her advocacy brings together the skills, knowledge and readiness that people need to build businesses.
The profile also records her service on the board of the Mfudumalo Foundation and involvement in community support, including a library in Ivory Park. Those details provide background to her advocacy; they do not establish the scale of any future programme under her new title.
Makamu’s victory gives that existing work a larger public platform. The distinction between a platform and a delivered outcome will remain important as she announces activities during her tenure.
Leadership helped persuade her to enter
In Eyewitness News’ report from the finale, Makamu said the competition’s emphasis on leadership attracted her because it aligned with her work and values.
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Tiyani Makamu wins Miss South Africa 2026 with business focus
Nov 15, 2026
Nov 15, 2026
5 min read
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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — 15 November 2026. Tiyani Makamu has won Miss South Africa 2026, taking the title at the Sandton Convention Centre on Saturday, 14 November. The communications professional and entrepreneur from Bronkhorstspruit, Gauteng, succeeds Qhawekazi Mazaleni.
The Miss South Africa Organisation confirmed the result in its 15 November announcement. Makamu, whom the organisation identifies as 27, begins her tenure with an advocacy focus on entrepreneurship, skills development and access to opportunities for women and young people.
Who is Tiyani Makamu, Miss South Africa 2026?
Makamu is a communications professional and entrepreneur from Bronkhorstspruit in Gauteng who won the national title on 14 November. She founded Hubsela, a platform supporting entrepreneurs, and her advocacy centres on business development, skills and access to economic opportunities for women and young people.
Makamu’s official contestant profile describes her as a Pearson Institute of Higher Education graduate working as a group digital lead and client success executive. It identifies her as the founder of Hubsela, which supports entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Her stated interests connect business development with youth unemployment and access to education. Rather than presenting entrepreneurship as a single intervention, her advocacy brings together the skills, knowledge and readiness that people need to build businesses.
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The profile also records her service on the board of the Mfudumalo Foundation and involvement in community support, including a library in Ivory Park. Those details provide background to her advocacy; they do not establish the scale of any future programme under her new title.
Makamu’s victory gives that existing work a larger public platform. The distinction between a platform and a delivered outcome will remain important as she announces activities during her tenure.
Leadership helped persuade her to enter
In Eyewitness News’ report from the finale, Makamu said the competition’s emphasis on leadership attracted her because it aligned with her work and values.
She described having moved into her career after earlier pageant experience, then finding a reason to return through the organisation’s revised direction. Her explanation places the business and advocacy work at the centre of her participation.
EWN reported that questions during the competition addressed empowerment, change and leadership. That emphasis gives readers a more useful understanding of her win than treating the result solely as a fashion or appearance story.
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The organiser’s stated direction is nevertheless an ambition to be assessed through actual activities. Public visibility can help attract partners, but it does not by itself demonstrate that entrepreneurs have obtained funding, completed training or increased their income.
Cash and impact funding are separate awards
The prize package announced ahead of the finale paired cash with impact funding. The organiser’s winner announcement makes the distinction precise: a guaranteed R1 million cash award, plus access to up to R500,000 in performance-based impact funding.
The organisation holds and administers the impact money. Access depends on an approved project plan, programme vetting, agreed milestones, budgeting, reporting and continued compliance. Funds are released in tranches against approved activities and verified delivery. The fund is not a personal payment or automatic entitlement.
That structure should not be described as R1.5 million in unrestricted winnings. Nor does the announcement establish that programme money has already reached beneficiaries.
The organisation has separately announced broader leadership and ambassador funding initiatives. These should not be confused with the winner’s individual award. The existence of several funds makes it especially important to identify which allocation supports which activity.
For women hoping to benefit from Makamu’s work, the practical information will be the programme design: who can participate, where activities take place, how people apply and what support they receive. Those details will determine access beyond the visibility of the title.
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Miss South Africa’s official programme FAQs describe Empower Youth Africa as its social-impact and leadership-development programme. Its themes include education, entrepreneurship and skills, health, community upliftment and civic engagement.
The organisation says participation is required of the titleholder and finalists. It also describes the winner’s role as a full-time brand ambassadorship involving programmes and campaigns, rather than a responsibility confined to the crowning night.
That framework allows the finalists’ work to continue after the competition. Makamu’s title is therefore part of a wider programme, with her entrepreneurship focus sitting alongside other participants’ causes.
The next consequential developments will be specific initiatives, published access arrangements and evidence of what participants receive. For Makamu, those steps will show how the business focus she brought to the competition develops into work during her reign.
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