Former Miss South Africa (Miss SA) pageant holder Peggy-Sue Khumalo made a public appearance this week when she mingled with President Cyril Ramaphosa at a high-profile event.
The ex-beauty queen – who won the pageant in 1996 – is now a respectable figure in the banking industry.
Peggy-Sue became the third black woman to win Miss SA in 1996 after predecessors Jacqui Mofokeng (1993) and Basetsana Kumalo (1994).
PEGGY-SUE KHUMALO WINES AND DINES WITH PRESIDENT
This week, Peggy-Sue Khumalo hosted President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Presidential Business Working Dinner at Investec in Sandton.
The event formed part of the G20 Outreach Programme and aimed to strengthen international cooperation in various areas, including science and innovation, education, and trade and investment.
The former beauty queen – who is Investec‘s Head of Public Sector Stakeholder Engagement – was seen welcoming the president to the business dinner.
The duo embraced, with the president thanking the pageant queen for her warm hospitality.
WHERE IS SHE NOW?
Where is Peggy-Sue Khumalo now? Here are three facts about life after the Miss SA crown…
Beauty pageant to bursary to study
After winning the pageant, Khumalo was offered a scholarship by Nelson Mandela and retired Investec CEO Stephen Koseff to study economics. Khumalo holds a master’s degree in Economics and a diploma in Public Relations and Communications.
She told 702: “When Nelson Mandela offered me the bursary… that was the greatest thing in my life!”
Joining the banking world
Peggy-Sue Khumalo is not just a pretty face. The 50-year-old spent almost two decades at Investec, where she headed up the Public Sector and Black Business Portfolio.
In 2019, Khumalo became the first black woman to become Standard Bank’s CEO of its wealth division in South Africa.
After a brief stint as Standard Bank’s Chief Executive of Wealth, Peggy-Sue Khumalo returned to Investic to head up their Public Sector Stakeholder Engagement department.
Wife and mother
In 2015, Peggy-Sue Khumalo married journalist Xolani Gwala. The couple had two daughters together.
Sadly, Gwala lost his battle with colon cancer in 2019.
Peggy-Sue said of their love story in a letter read out at his funeral: “You showed me the kind of love that dreams were made of.
“I rested in your arms, knowing that for the first time in my life, I had found a soul mate.”
