Miss SA Zozibini Tunzi has been crowned Miss Universe, beating 90 other women.

Asked by host Steve Harvey what young girls needed to be taught, Zozibini said: “I think the most important thing we should be teaching young girls today is leadership.

“It's something that has been lacking in young girls for a very long time, not because we don't want to [take leadership], but because of how society has labelled women to be.”

She further emphasised the power women held: “Nothing is as important as taking up space in society and cementing yourself,” she said.

Just hours before emerging victorious, Tunzi shared a heartwarming message, in which she thanked her parents for raising her to become the confident and grounded woman she is.

Tunzi is known for her passion for breaking beauty stereotypes and promoting women empowerment, subjects she spoke proudly about on stage.

The pictures she shared on Instagram showed her sandwiched between her parents just days before her departure to Atlanta, US, where the Miss Universe pageant was held.

“I am because you are. You have given me life, you've raised me to be the woman I am, so that I can stand in a faraway land proudly knowing I'm rooted and where I'm from,” she said.