Zozibini Tunzi was moved to the point of shedding tears as a ferocious and emotional roar greeted her arrival in Johannesburg on Saturday. That's how much it meant to the people of Mzansi that Zozi is home.
8 February 2020 felt like one of those special days in recent South African history. Those rare moments of unity between races, tribes and genders that see South Africans. South Africans of all ages woke up at ungodly hours, braved heavy rains and fought through the traffic at Goololies Interchange just to be there on the day that Zozibini came home. It felt great to be South African again.
OR Tambo International Airport was captured by a festival-like atmosphere as friends and strangers united in song for hours before Zozibini landed. And when she eventually touched down, the ground shook as South Africans finally welcomed her back home since she won Miss Universe in 2019.
You can't help but shed a tear (more like 100 tears) after watching the moment she came through the arrivals doors:
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She wasn't the only one in tears, either. The timeline was a MESS as the scenes at the airport continued to play out on social media:
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The hashtags #ZoziComesHome and #MissUniverse have been trending all day as the emotional volume of everything that has happened in the last few months finally caught up with everybody during the conversation.
Saturday felt like a full-circle moment for everybody who had rallied to support Zozibini from the very start of her Miss Universe journey. Fans and followers who had sent her off with gusto back in 2020 celebrated her homecoming the most - as one follower put it, she came back with the crown!
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After arriving to the loud cheers and chants from the crowd at the airport, Zozibini took a moment to field a few questions from the press. With all the grace and composure of a history-making-Miss-Universe, she spoke about her experiences and the meaning of her homecoming. She also told eNCA journalist, Silindelo Masikane what she most the most in South Africa. Responding to the question she said:
"I asked Zozibini Tunzi what she misses most about home. Apart from her family, friends, the culture and the music- she misses Nandos SA chicken a lot!"
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Zozibini is now off to the Eastern Cape where she will visit her hometown of Tsolo. As emotional as today was, we can't even begin to imagine how her arrival will be greeted.
From what we can see, a welcoming party is already in place in Umthatha.
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We will be keeping up with every day of Zozibini's homecoming throughout the weekend.
