A right royal storm is swirling around the crowned head and halo of Miss South Africa, 24-year-old Lalela Mswane, who has been urged not to grace the Miss Universe pageant in Israel on Sunday, 12 December.
The latest row over the politics of hosting beauty pageants comes on the heels of Miss SA Zozibini Tunzi winning the Miss Universe in 2019 amidst the popularity of the local pageant on social media, with Miss SA 2020 Shudufhadzo Musida having attracted celebrity status on the popular platforms, and while Mswane basks in the beauty stakes since her crowning in October in the presence of Miss World pageant founder, Julia Morley – until this new controversy.
In another blow, Miss SA’s dreams to vie for the prestige pageantry crown have been dashed by the ANC government’s decision to withdraw its support for Mswane to fly the SA flag – or parade as Pretoria’s “ambassador” at the major beauty event in Eilat, outside Tel Aviv.
The privately-owned local pageant franchise organisation’s refusal to back down in line with the government’s official diplomatic protocol, which sits uncomfortably with Israel’s “apartheid-styled” policies and persecution of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Many political and non-government organisations – particularly Muslim formations – are in solidarity with Palestine, the PLO and Hamas.
Stephanie Weil, CEO of the Miss SA, said Mswane was “thrilled” to be able to make her childhood dream come true – to “wear the crown” while representing her country globally: “As the reigning Miss SA 2021, Mswane will be participating in the 70th Miss Universe pageant in Eilat, Israel.”
However, Nathi Mthethwa, Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, has dissociated government from the pageant over SA’s fragile diplomacy with the controversial Jewish state that was this year engaged in a tit-for-tat bombing attack with Palestine’s ruling militant group, Hamas, in the Gaza Strip. The ANC and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) – the main political force in the disputed Middle East with neighbours Israel – have been traditional allies since the struggle against apartheid. Hundreds of South Africans across the racial spectrum have come out on social media condemning Miss SA’s participation in Israel, with support, lobby groups and political parties urging the organisers to boycott the worldwide pageant that attracts beautiful women from many countries – with the best bevy of beauties competing for the crown from Venezuela, Brazil, India and Europe.
‘’We welcome the ANC’s decision not to support Miss SA in Israel. There are clear and negative consequences for SA’s image. Miss SA is coming under pressure from the organiser’s Stephanie Weil and Lalela Mswane is backtracking by not pulling out of the pageant,’’ said former Durban deputy mayor and Westville city councillor, Fawzia Peer, who also supports the Durban-based Youth for Palestine local lobby.
Professor Pitika Ntuli, former University of KwaZulu-Natal (Westville Campus) academic and renowned cultural and traditional affairs activist, has also spoken out against Miss SA participating in the Miss Universe in Israel, given the sanctions and boycott of the country based on Tel Aviv’s “apartheid” policies and violence against Palestine’s population and political parties. South Africans like Ntuli and Noor Ahmad of the Palestine Solidarity Alliance have fresh memories of the cultural boycott of apartheid SA.
“As a country, how can we send Miss SA to an oppressive regime that uses apartheid policies to force Palestinians out of their ancestral homes and hand them over to Israeli settlers; and a country that enforces pass laws to control Palestinians at borders and practices ethnic cleansing and economic blockades?” asked Noor, who organised a demonstration to protest against the “Zionist apartheid state”.
She said thousands of petitions have been signed online, calling on the organisers to pull Miss SA out on the glamour event. Also, in line with founding President Nelson Mandela’s strong stance against Israel, his grandson, Mandla Mandela, who is married to a Muslim woman, has also voiced his opposition : “Israel is an apartheid state and we will continue to mobilise all freedom-loving people of the world to boycott, divest and pass sanctions against the brutal apartheid regime.”
Al-Jama-ah, a growing political party, and its Gauteng chairman, Thapelo Amad, have attacked the Miss SA organisation’s “unfortunate statement” about Miss SA representing SA: “The politically charged statement released chose to disregard the fundamental human rights of the oppressed people of Palestine, and rather chose to support and endorse an apartheid state.”
“We unreservedly support the call made by Palestinians to respect and support their cultural boycott campaign, recognising the role that cultural institutions play to normalise the project of apartheid by Israel,” he said. The SA Jewish Board of Deputies, pointing out SA’s diplomatic and economic ties with Israel, said SA’s decision was “counter-productive” if Miss SA shared SA’s culture of dialogue and peace with the 70 contestants. While social media users point to the current beauty queen being pulled apart during a historical moment of her life – also highlighting the reputational damage to her professional career if she defied the boycott call and participated in the pageant, and many are unanimous in their opinions that South Africans are rightly up in arms about whether Miss SA will find herself on the wrong side of world history. This right royal row has also reminded beauty pageant followers of how Cape Town singer, Pearl Gladys Jansen, competed under the dubious flag of Miss Africa South, because the apartheid policy barred her from contesting as Miss SA, and she ended up first runner-up in the 1970 Miss World pageant in London. Her performance attracted bigger attention to a country that began facing worldwide sanctions and trade, economic, cultural and sports boycotts.
