Is Miss SA relevant?

Twelve finalists were named at Cell C’s head office yesterday. The 12 were chosen at the end of a gruelling ‘boot camp-like’ selection process that put the 33 semi-finalists through their paces.

The revamped Miss SA pageant, which now has Melinda Bam – Miss SA 2011 as its national executive, has been in the spotlight recently due to questions about its relevance and impact on society.

Started in 1956, the beauty pageant has catapaulted many of its winners into the limelight. The second black Miss SA, Basetsana Kumalo, who won the pageant in 1994 is now a seasoned and successful businesswoman.

Thuli Sithole, who took the title in 2005 says that although she didn’t expect to win the contest, it has met all her expectations and more.

“It came as a complete shock to me,” she admits. “I was a student studying for an honours (degree) in town planning. I was hoping I would get noticed and an opportunity to work as a town planner would arise. Instead, more than that happened and I won. I was so emotional.”

About the pageant’s relevance, Sithole said it depends on the individual.

“If one doesn’t take advantage of the platform that’s up to them. Being Miss SA can springboard you on to anything. There are so many opportunities. I spent about a year in entertainment and realised it wasn’t for me. I opted for the corporate world and I am very happy here. I own an enterprise development company that provides marketing tools that can empower your business,” she explains.

“The pageant taught me a lot. It taught me how to explore my talents and skills and showed me how to adapt and grow. I am an entrepreneur now and through Miss SA I’ve been able to realise my dreams,” Sithole says happily.

Another title holder who agrees with these sentiments is Bokang Montjane who clinched the crown in 2010. The former Limpopo resident is now the owner of a TV production company and the Bokang Montjane Foundation.

Montjane says she networked extensively while she held the title and it paid off.

“I made sure that I had at least two business cards whenever I left an event. I knew that I could use this position to my advantage and worked hard to attain a sustainable career.”

While Kumalo, Sithole and Montjane are all successful businesswomen in their own right, not all past winners have made the most of the Miss SA title. Tansey Coetzee, who snagged the coveted tiara in 2007 is an example of a title holder who faded into obscurity.

Coetzee became an overnight celebrity, but all the 29-year-old Cape Town-born beauty made headlines for were her high-profile partying ways and questionable relationships.

So where does it all go wrong for women such as Coetzee who fail dismally to turn their Miss SA win into a ticket to success? To some, failures like this are proof that the pageant has lost it’s prestige.

Alison McKi, marketing manager of Sun International, the group that hosts the pageant at their Sun City resort, says the pageant’s goals are more about empowering women than promoting glamour.

“We are going to focus on young girls, look at their wants and needs and incorporate them into the pageant. The Miss SA title is going to foster women empowerment and we really want to put the message across that this isn’t about glamour, but rather a whole lot of work.”

Suzette van der Merwe, commercial communications executive for pageant sponsor Cell C, and Miss South Africa 1990, said in a statement that the aim of revamping the pageant was to reposition the brand as more relevant in today’s society.

“Like Sun International and the Miss SA brand, Cell C’s goal is to support bold, confident and beautiful young women who have the power to inspire a nation and make a difference. Traditionally Miss SA is a Believe story – a little girl who grew up with a dream of being a princess.

And when she is all grown up, and pursues and realises her dream she has a platform from which to inspire, influence, lead by example, follow her dream, make a difference, make someone’s day, or change someone’s world for the better – and she inspires others to believe too.” – www.destinyconnect.com