10 Mar 2025

Fifty-nine-year-old Regina Mothibi of Digawana was selected the fairest of them all to scoop the Miss GBV Ambassador 2025 –Digawana title during a pageant held at Magotlhwane on Saturday.  The elderly woman won a weekend away voucher, P500 worth of electricity courtesy of Botswana Power Corporation, kitchen devices and a spa treatment.
Bontle Matsididi, 56, of Lorwana village finished in second place winning herself P300 worth of electricity and one night in a lodge while the third runner up 61-year-old Gadifele Ntshekang of Mogojogojo walked away with one night away in a lodge and P200 worth of electricity.
The pageantry was part of the International Women’s Day activities organised by Diphalana Empowerment Centre from Gathwane in the Goodhope District.
The beauty pageant themed: For All Women and Girls, Rights, Equality and Empowerment - the Miss GBV Ambassador Digawana 2025 was aimed towards fighting Gender Based Violence (GBV). The competition attracted 18 contestants from five villages of Digawana cluster comprising of Mogojogojo Gathwane, Gopong, Lorwana and Digawana.
The competition attracted young and elderly women. The organiser and chairperson of the event, Paul Englishman, said Diphalana Empowerment Centre was set to assist the government through educating the public on health and economic issues.
He further said that, all the winners will at the end of the pageant be made representatives of fighting GBV across their respective communities as the ones with first-hand experience on GBV issues where they lived.
Englishman further said that the pageant incentives were organised such that, they would help to capacitate and empower them towards good health and financial freedom.
These was evidenced by awarding all the 15 contestants who could not make it to the Top 5 with some Fruit trees courtesy of the area Member of Parliament for Goodhope-Mmathethe, Dr Edwin Dikoloti whose office was mandated to fight GBV by 25 per cent as well as encourage agripreneurship with 60 000 pledged fruit trees.
Englishman said the intention was for Diphalana Empowerment Centre to continually grow the competition to be held annually across all the village clusters within the district. He called on the community to join hands in the fight against GBV in the next coming competition.
Goodhope District Council Chairperson, Gofaone Nkwane appreciated the significance of women, first as carriers of life during expectancy, labourers during delivery to nurturing the offspring to maturity against all odds.
“Women should through this vast significance recognise and understand their self-worth as it will help them from being victims of GBV thereby ruling out the element of low self-esteem,” he said.
He further said that women should be empowered at the workplace and at home. However, he cautioned that empowerment at home does not mean promoting disregard of authority in the home.
Nkwane further cautioned against withdrawing rape and defilement cases from the police.
 “As a parent you do not understand the pain the victim is going through, and withdrawing the cases denies them their human rights,” he said. ENDS