With a bright future ahead, former Miss SA Shudufhadzo Musida is at the precipice of taking her career to new heights and at the core is bringing change to the world.
The 28-year-old mental health advocate hailing from HaMasia village in Venda, Limpopo, was last week appointed the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) global champion for women and girls.
“For those who know me, I have wanted to serve since I was eight,” Musida informs me during a WhatsApp call on a Saturday evening (local time), but 10.30am in New York City, where she's indulging on her favourite breakfast of homemade bagel and coffee.
“To have the purpose behind my work recognised in a way that champions women and girls is big. The work I’ve done for the past two years I did with no expectations but mostly with the passion for the people.”
The UNFPA is the United Nations' sexual and reproductive health agency.
“They [UNFPA] told me that this is what they wanted to do, but seeing the announcement on their website was surreal,” Musida says excitedly.
“Then the interview on Sky News [on Friday] with one of the greatest journalists of all time Yalda Hakim – I was like what am I even doing on Sky News? That was a huge highlight for me.”
During the conversation with Hakim, Musida highlighted the fight to stop the dangerous practices of female genital mutilation (FGM), citing that more than 200-million women in the world have undergone the harmful procedure.
Musida has served as the UNFPA regional champion for East Africa and SA for the past two years.
Since mid-2024, Musida's absence from the local social scene has been felt. It's due to her academic commitment to her dream school, Columbia University in New York.
She is pursuing a master’s qualification in international affairs, focusing on economic and political development with a specialisation in leadership innovation and design.
“I chose Columbia because it's one of the best schools on public policy and has some of the greatest minds in international affairs,” she shares.
“It's a lot of work but I'm pleased to be at such an incredible school. I was always interested in Columbia after matric but stopped my application halfway because I thought I couldn't afford to go, or I would never get in. Ten years later I made it and got in.”
Musida’s new role will leverage her academic programme at the school.
“I designed for social innovation and built practical solutions that are human-centred – beyond the policy side and more than studying economics and the theory. The core of my work has been the drive to solve African problems,” she says.
“Growing up in HaMasia, I saw many things that shouldn't have happened. I moved out of there when I was eight, but I've always carried what I saw because you always know that could have been me. Yes, I'm blessed that I'm at these world stages but it's important to take the conversation back to where I come from.”
Musida has called New York home since last August and says the experience has been a big culture shock.
“I feel America, New York specifically, is loud just being submerged in a new environment and the cultural differences. New York is competitive so there is this constant drive. You don't need to speak to people to realise that it's in the air – that constant need to be better all the time,” she says.
“You need to give 110% because we're all giving a 100%... You need to give a hundred and 10% to survive. I guess that’s why they call it the concrete jungle. It’s been quite interesting.”
Musida says the next time she lands in SA, the first meal she will tuck into is oxtail and dombolo from 1947 on Vilakazi Street, Soweto.
“When I was in South Africa last semester, I told my partner the first thing I wanted was Nandos to make sure he had it for me at the airport,” she says.
“After that, I was eating pap almost every day. I ate oxtail and dombolo from 1947 on Vilakazi Street. Oh, and boerewors rolls. Thinking about it makes me cry. I’ll probably do the same when I’m back home again.”
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