Miss SA pageant officials accused of darkening finalists’ skin tone in official promo images

July 26, 2019 | by Lily Rose

Social media users are calling out Miss South Africa pageant officials for allegedly darkening the skin tone of some of its finalists in promotional shots.

Officials unveiled the top 16 on Instagram earlier this week.

Many praised the judges for choosing a diverse group of finalists, which included women of different shapes, colours and sizes.

One contestant has a unique birth mark on her face while another identifies as queer. “Extremely diverse group of women in the Miss South Africa pageant this year. Also a lot of natural hair queens and different body types and shapes. Really changing the idea of what a beauty queen looks like! I love it!” TV presenter Abigail Visagie
tweeted when the top 16 was announced.

Another Twitter user was excited to see a lot of dark-skinned women in the competition.

Several days before the top 16 were revealed celebrities, including Pearl Thusi and Bonnie Mbuli, debated whether light-skinned black women had a better chance at success in the entertainment industry than their darker skinned counterparts.

“This year’s Miss SA is testament that the Company listened and took proper advice! Melanin,” the Twitter user wrote.

But many are starting to wonder whether the pageant officials darkened the skin colour of contestants such as to make the competition seem diverse.

One of the most vocal people on the issue is media personality Minnie Dlamini. She says not only did the official Miss SA images make all the woman of colour the same shade, but they are also much prettier than how they were presented.

“The official Miss SA pictures of this year’s finalists are very disappointing. Those women are not all the same shade of brown. They are much better looking, I couldn’t believe the contrast from their IG pages. #LetsDoBetter,” she wrote on Twitter this week.

https://twitter.com/MinnieDlamini/status/1153977355406368769

Minnie’s fans agreed.

“Yea, they are trying so hard to push the diversity thing…,” one woman wrote.

Here’s a look at some of the women.

https://www.all4women.co.za/1807821/entertainment/sa-celebs/miss-sa-accused-of-darkening-finalists-skin-tone-in-official-promo-images