Mr Eswatini with a vision

He is rising above everything 

I've had the great opportunity to know and spend time with a humble and amazing person, whom I've learnt a lot from. Every conversation we have is constructive. We always learn something from each other. So I decided it was long overdue for him to tell his story on Sky Fashion.

Rodney Landsberg (24) is a highly ambitious, driven and determined young man who is bound by good code of conduct, ethics and moral principles in high hopes to achieve greatness. He is from the outskirts of Manzini, called KaKhoza, where he grew up, with his older brother and younger sister, being taken care of by their grandmother after their father passed away when Rodney was 13 years old and their mother after, when Rodney was 15 years old. Fortunately, he was offered a bursary under the Salesian High School Pupil's Fund to pay for school fees and he was able to get decent education and finish high school.

Rodney was recently crowned Mr Eswatini 2018 and this has been a journey for him because he has been in a number pageants before, including Mr Fresher's Mbabane Campus in 2014, Mr University of Eswatini in 2014, and Mr Inter-varsity Botswana Lesotho Swaziland (BOLESWA) in 2014 and 2016. 

 While pursuing his degree at UNESWA, Mbabane campus, a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Management in Occupational Health and Safety, he mentions he was able to engage in some extracurricular activities in which he discovered modelling as a hobby. "The need for money and self sustenance drove me to explore a lot of new ventures."
He mentions.  

He says he learnt that being a role model is more important than being just a model and after being crowned Mr Inter-varsity in 2016, he established a Modelling Blog which developed into a Mini School for Modelling; Models Swaziland Institute (MSI),where they helped aspiring models to grow in their career.

They assisted a lot of people who were venturing in the entertainment industry to understand the pressure and also to maintain composure and become a role model. Because of this he was able to learn and make an impact and as a result in 2018 he was crowned Mr ESwatini.

With MSI they were able to gain experience and they worked with other Brands Such as Swaziland beverages on their Flying fish Beach Festival, Nedbank on their Brand New Day Campaign, Rand Mutual Assurance on their Change of payment with examiner beneficiaries, as well as Swazi bank with having been a part of two of their Mavuso Trade Center promotions and their Swazi bank cup promotions.

 Rodney mentions that his journey at UNESWA, Mbabane Campus was a great one. The modules he did have helped him to broaden his capacity of understanding the world and the issues that are faced in it each day. The modules emphasized on the importance of Sustainable development and a well-developed environment.



Mr Eswatini has good interpersonal and leadership skills. He has led a modelling institute, he teaches Karate at various karate training centers in the country, he has also led the modelling team and karate team in the inter-varsity games in which they came back with the first place tittle because he is one of the youngest Black belt holders in Kyokushin karate in the country.

Its not just that he also has good public speaking skills. Being a part of the Swaziland National Union of Students allowed him the opportunity to be a part of the UNESWA Debates, this gradually increased his public speaking abilities. Being made the face of the Campus, The University, the inter-varsity, was part of what made him the first choice to address the mass populations of the University at some of the student meetings.

"I hope to inspire in order to inspire, I believe one must reach a level of achievement where by people start to look up to one’s life and realize that it is a good path to follow in life."
Mentions Rodney. 

Having gone through poverty, he hopes he can be able to help people change their poverty situation. He believes being poor is unfortunate, but it is even more unfortunate when one has no hope. He wishes to help people in those situations to try and help them see a solution and find hope in living for tomorrow.