Durban - Former Durban University of Technology (DUT) student and current employee at the university Nkululeko Mbatha is one of the Mister Supranational South Africa 2023 semi-finalists.
If the 28-year-old from Ulundi in KwaZulu-Natal receives enough votes, he could feature in the final list to represent the country at the prestigious pageant in Poland.
Alan Khan, senior director of corporate affairs at DUT, said Mbatha holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in Public Relations (PR) and Communications Management from DUT.
“He is currently a DUT staff member at the university’s Communications unit,” he said.
He said Mbatha entered the Suprastar Search in 2022 and was placed number two.
Khan said he then entered Mister Supranational SA later that year.
Mbatha said that he told himself that it was now time for “major“ .
“I then told a few people close to me who knew I had submitted an entry that I had advanced to the semi-finals.”
Mbatha started modelling in 2014 and was scouted by Boss Models Durban in 2018.
Khan said that Mbatha also has a project that assists in collecting scientific calculators for disadvantaged school pupils.
Mbatha said that many pupils miss out on the first few important lessons because they do not have a decent calculator.
“Scientific calculators have now become so expensive, making it difficult for someone with a disadvantaged background to procure one. I saw this as a gap to try and bridge because I am from a home with kids of the same age group, and I saw how my grandmother struggled with making sure we all had the necessary tools for school, especially a proper calculator, which is very pricey.”
Mbatha added that his objective is to get into the finale as only 10 out of the 19 semi-finalists will make it further and he therefore needs as many votes as possible.
“One can simply vote for me on www.webtickets.co.za, search for Mister Supranational South Africa 2023 and vote for contestant number 11, Nkululeko Mbatha”
He said in 2019 he entered and won Mister International South Africa, but unfortunately he never had the chance to go international because of Covid-19.
Voting closes on March 15, 2023.
