cynthia shange

Cynthia Shange: First Black South African Woman at Miss World Dies Aged 76

Cynthia Shange, the first black woman to represent South Africa at the Miss World pageant during apartheid, has died aged 76. Born in 1949, she won Miss Africa South in the 1970s because black women were barred from competing in Miss South Africa. After her pageant career, she became a successful film and television actress, starring in pioneering works including Udeliwe and Shaka Zulu. Her daughter Nonhle Thema announced her passing on social media.