Miss South Africa mum on Miss Universe boycott, turns focus to Miss World

Graye Morkel Nov 17, 2021

The Miss South Africa Organisation has received backlash following an announcement that the reigning titleholder would compete at Miss Universe 2021, hosted in Israel, despite growing calls to boycott the competition.
Lalela Mswane will join participants from close to 70 countries at the Miss Universe pageant to be hosted in Israel on 13 December.
The government has withdrawn its support for the Miss South Africa pageant.

The Miss South Africa Organisation has broken its social media silence, following the government's decision to withdraw its support for the organisation, with an Instagram post about Shudufhadzo Musida's participation at Miss World.
25-year-old Shudufhadzo, who was crowned Miss South Africa 2020, will represent the country at the 70th Miss World pageant in Puerto Rico on 16 December.

"A new journey begins for our @missworld South Africa, @shudufhadzomusida, as she heads to Puerto Rico," the organisation captioned a video of Shudufhadzo taking her final walk as reigning Miss South Africa at the Grand Arena in Cape Town on 16 October.

The post comes after a week-long radio silence, following public outcry for SA to withdraw from Miss Universe 2021. The pageant will be held in Israel - which is accused of committing atrocities against Palestinians - on 13 December.

A statement posted on Instagram on 9 November, which confirmed Miss South Africa 2021 Lalela Mswane's attendance at the 70th edition of Miss Universe, garnered an overwhelmingly negative response - and the comment section of the post was subsequently closed.

On Sunday, News24 reported that the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture said it withdrew its support for the Miss South Africa Organisation after it could not convince organisers to pull out of the event.

The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture said atrocities committed by Israel against Palestinians were well documented, and the government, as the legitimate representative of the people of South Africa, "could not in good conscience associate itself with such".

Channel24 reached out to Miss Universe and Miss South Africa for comment and did not receive a response at the time of publishing. The article will be updated should more information become available.

https://www.news24.com/channel/the-juice/news/pageant/miss-south-africa-mum-on-miss-universe-boycott-turns-focus-to-miss-world-20211116