Model Bianca Schoombee has withdrawn her Miss South Africa application after her past racist tweets resurfaced. Her agency, SYNC Models announced the withdrawal.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/MissSA2020?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MissSA2020contest and SYNC Models supports her decision. #BiancaSchoombee #Bianca
— SYNC Models (@sync_models)
Twitter users dug into her past and found tweets where the 21-year-old used the N-word.
Before withdrawing her application, Schoombee already stood little chance of being a contestant because Miss SA rules states: "Any semi-finalist or finalist may not have been involved in any unsavoury or unethical incidents or conduct that may bring the organisers or the Miss South Africa pageant into disrepute. Unsavoury or unethical conduct includes, but is not limited to, bribery, racism, sexism, slander or libel.”
On how they choose the contestants, Miss South Africa chief executive Stephanie Weil said: "Entries for this year's competition opened on May 11 and close on May 31, 2020, at midnight. The organisers have not yet announced its panel of judges nor evaluated any of the entries received.
"We only assess entrants once the deadline for submissions has closed. Once we have a selection of potential semi-finalists we run the necessary background checks. There is good governance in place to ensure that Miss South Africa finalists and semi-finalists align with our values."
Schoombee also deactivated her account after she received criticism after apologising.
SYNC also deleted their tweets where they were defending her, telling South Africa to stop dwelling on the past.
Tweets by SYNC models that were later deleted.