17 Sep 2018

In efforts to reposition Botswana as a top destination for fashion and beauty, Miss Botswana organisers intend to bring the Miss World pageant to Botswana as part of their five-year strategic plan.

The development follows the recent controversies surrounding the pageant which saw Miss Botswana, which was previously under the management of Botswana Council for Women (BCW), go to the Development Advance Institute (DAI).

Speaking at a media briefing recently, DAI director, Benjamin Raletsatsi revealed that the fashion and beauty industry had the potential to contribute towards the country’s economic diversification.

He said currently the industry in Botswana was not active because there was no proper market that influenced fashion in a game-changing way. 

Through the turnaround strategy of Miss Botswana pageant, Raletsatsi believes that the current state could be changed as it strived to use beauty and fashion to promote Botswana’s culture as a tourist attraction.

He further revealed that in five years, Miss Botswana plans to have contributed towards the fashion and retail industry through the pageant by creating over 50 000 jobs for Batswana youth.

For her part, Miss Botswana restructuring team leader, Basadi Masimolole said only three contestants would participate in this year’s edition of the pageant. 

She said the three women were from the 12 finalists who took part in the Miss Botswana 2017 pageant. 

“We approached Miss World and requested that our reigning queen hands over the crown to the first princess who would represent our country at the international stage. 

This is an allowed but is not preferred by Miss World. We were then advised to call our top six from the previous year and do a mini pageant from which we would select our queen,” she clarified.

Masimolole further explained that instead of six, they called all 12 finalists to participate and that only nine were eligible. 

From the nine, she said seven were eligible but were not interested while the remaining two were eligible and interested.

“I can, however, confirm that another participant has expressed interest to contest in this year’s pageant, and that brings the total number of contestants to three,” she added.

Despite a lot of criticism, Miss Botswana 2018/19 will be crowned on September 21. 

Tickets for the show sell at P1 500.

Masimolole reiterated that the show was not about the money, and that the plan was to re-launch, re-position and re-brand Miss Botswana to build trust with its stakeholders.

She also noted that they were running the show with no funds which explained the hefty price of the tickets. 

She appealed to corporates and business entities to sponsor the new Miss Botswana to help achieve its mandate.

This year’s edition of the pageant promises to do things differently and bring a breath of life to the prestigious event. 

Among the changes is the judging criteria which will entail 25 per cent former queens, 25 per cent industry players, 25 per cent panel of judges and 25 per cent delegates at the finale. ENDS