The SA Government, through the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DAC), just announced that they would be withdrawing their support of Miss South Africa representing the country at the Miss Universe 2021 pageant, and fans are outraged.
The competition will be held in Eliat, Israel on December 12th this year, and there has been an uproar both locally and internationally, of pageant fans demanding that models boycott the event, following the public human rights issues that Israel has been part of over the last few years.
Miss SA, Lalela Mswane, was set to represent the country at the event. But the excitement for the pageant has been ruined by urgent national calls for the model to boycott the event. Fans canโt believe that she would be so willing and ready to promote a country whose government has been accused of Apartheid, when she comes from an Apartheid country herself.
Now the government has weighed in on the issue, and they are on the side of the people. In a statement by the DAC on Sunday, the government distanced itself from the pageant organisers, and their decision to stay in the controversial pageant.
"The South African government withdraws its support and that of South Africa for the Miss South Africa pageant following the latterโs intransigence and disregard of advice against partaking in the Miss Universe pageant scheduled to be held in Israel during the month of December 2021.
What during initial consultations appeared like engaging, constructive and progressive discussions, was later met with an unpleasant demeanour that is intransigent and lacking appreciation of the potential negative impact of such a decision on the reputation and future of a young black woman." the statement on the DAC website reads.
Internet users immediately went online to trash the government. Many think that itโs odd for the government to pretend to care about Israelโs Apartheid legacy now, when they have ties going back many years, that they still havenโt cut. Some think that they are erroneously putting the spotlight on the individual, Lalela, and making it a personal issue because it is much harder for them to cancel the organisation instead. They say it is unfair that the government waited until after she was crowned to step in, and now are turning it into an attack on Miss Lalelaโs convictions.
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โAlso hypocritical of the government to only be vocal about this issue now. I guess itโs easier to deal with an individual than the Miss Universe organisation New moon with face Lalela should withdraw but her withdrawal will not solve the problem. Deal with the root causeโ, a tweep wrote.
Others think that if the government suddenly has an opinion on Israelโs human rights violations, they should go ahead and cancel all trade deals as well.
There is a group of fans who applaud the government decision, though. They think that it will be a big embarrassment for Lalela to attend the event still, even after the government has publicly snubbed her. They believe she shouldnโt put her personal ambitions before the message it would send to attend the event, and think that as a graduate of the Law, she has a moral responsibility to uphold human rights by joining the boycott.
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Other countries are reported to have already boycotted the event, including Malaysia and Indonesia. The Miss SA organisers are yet to respond to this latest development, even though they initially refused to bow to mounting pressure from citizens.