Swazi Observer

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IT’S TIME TO STEP AWAY FROM MODELING - SAKHILE

By Nokwanda Sibandze | 2024-10-06

There comes a time where a person has to take a different route in their lives and everything we know about them suddenly becomes memories.

I believe that this sentiment was shared by many Emaswati when model Sakhile Simelane announced that she would no longer be modeling and was ending that chapter of her life.

Many people were shattered and as someone who wrote about her many times than I can count, I too was shattered. Many people were sad because they would never get to see her amazingly curated photo-shoots, but I was sad for a different reason.

When someone like Sakhile Simelane decides to take on a career that is not recognised in the country, it is exciting; because she did not only take her craft seriously, but she worked so hard and persevered even when she did not receive any recognition.

For years, she collaborated with different photographers to create what I call magic. She shared with us her creative side, her idea of what modelling looks like and quite honestly Eswatini caught on too late.

I say this with so much appreciation and respect to Emaswati who understood the impact that Sakhile has had in modelling and content creation world in general. I do believe that many Emaswati saw the vision and celebrated her,

I do also believe that we could have done more. However I do not want this to turn into a regret goodbye but I want to celebrate the impact of the powerhouse that Sakhile Simelane is. If anything by the end of this article, I want to appreciate Sakhile and the hard work she has put in to elevate the industry in Eswatini.

I remember the first time I saw her, she was dancing at a show and I asked a friend of mine “Who is that lady?” and my friend replied “Oh, her name is Sakhile and she studies at UNESWA,” the next thing that came out of my mouth “Oh she looks like a model. I was right, she was.

It was not just how she looked, it was how she walked, the way she was dressed, something was special about her and the next coming years, she just proved that. Her journey was so subtle but powerful, by the time people started to recognise her, she had already built a beautiful catalogue of her work.

I remember the first time the entire country took notice, it was during the pandemic, a challenge took over social media and when she posted hers, even world sensation Naomi Campbell could not resist.

Her ‘Vogue Magazine’ challenge took over the entire country. That collaboration with Will Brown finally got the country looking and asking about her. After that, I believe almost everyone looked forward to seeing her work.

Her outfits alone deserve an article of their own. The way she curates her outfits, I was not surprised to learn that she designed and made some of the outfits herself. She worked with many photographers and for each photo-shoot, it were as if it was meant to be.

Emaswati started noticing and being inspired by her work that we saw a number of people follow in her footsteps. It was when she also started her ‘Get Ready with Me’ series that we had the chance to see how gifted she was in creating her own clothes and outing outfits. She even landed herself a few deals with major clothing stores in the country.

As if we had not seen her talent enough, we were introduced to runaway walking Sakhile. She walked at the StandardBank Luju Festival and because most people were used to her in still pictures, we saw her strut the runaway like a true model.

After that, it was no doubt that she was one of the best models the country has ever seen. Sakhile has inspired a lot of young people who aspire to become who she is. Even though she has decided to leave the industry we will always remember her.

She will be remembered for her tenacity, her courage to wear the most creative clothes and outfits.

She will be remembered for breaking boundaries and trying new things. She will be remembered for going an extra mile for her brand, doing what most people are afraid of doing and we will remember her for putting the country on; because of her, many people know that Eswatini can produce quality work.

Sakhile will be celebrated for her professionalism and exclusivity. She picked and chose where to go and that made us appreciate her more because she was rare. I believe that she will always be a star and Eswatini will always appreciate her for the work she has done.

So Miss Simelane, allow me to say this on behalf of the entire nation; Siyabonga. Thank you for inspiring us to wear clothes with confidence, thank you for inspiring us to wear our different styles with pride.

Thank you for encouraging young models to take up his career and most importantly thank you for sharing your art with us. We hope that your future endeavours are successful and we hope that you will continue to inspire more young people in whatever field you will pursue. We are grateful to have seen such talent through you in the past couple of years.

We hope that you will cherish all the memories and photo-shoots you have shared with us just as much as we will. Thank you. Now to Emaswati, I hope that her journey could be a lesson to all of us. Gems such as Sakhile Simelane are hard to find, but once they are found, they need to be taken care of.

With that I hope that the young and upcoming models in the country will not go through some of the struggles that she did and we will have more room and support for talent such as Sakhile. A message from Sakhile After a fulfilling and transformative journey, the time has come for me to step away from the world of modeling.

This career has not given me much tangible satisfaction, but it has taught me a lot of valuable life skills, like resilience. I have also understood that being good at something will not always reward you with a sustainable career in that field, it may just mean that you’re just good at it, nothing more, and that’s still okay.

This career has connected me to a lot of highly skilled people whom I have had the opportunity to collaborate with, and it has given me the opportunity to represent beauty from my point of view. But as all journeys have their chapters, I feel it is time to change and turn the page, and embrace new challenges and passions.

The reality is that I am more than just a model; there are so many areas of my life that deserve exploration, as much as I did modelling. Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way - my friends, my online supporters, fellow models, local brands, journalists (for documenting my journey over the years) and especially photographers, they’ve translated my dream into reality through photos. Your encouragement means the world to me.

I look forward to sharing the next chapter of my life with all of you. With gratitude and love Sakhile Simelane. By Nokwanda Sibandze

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