In a quest to broaden the horizon, and with the majority of hopefuls being based in Gauteng, the Miss Bachelorette SA beauty pageant is set to relocate from Limpopo to the country’s richest province as from next year, organisers said.
Speaking to Pretoria News, chief executive Refilwe Mogale said it made sense to move the pageant because 80% of the entries received were from Gauteng.
“Some are originally from other provinces but they are based in Gauteng.
“We get a lot of enquiries from those who are based in Gauteng and want to participate but their biggest challenge is the fact that they have to travel to Limpopo in order to participate, therefore they end up not entering, which means we could be getting more entries than we currently are if we were based in Gauteng,” Mogale said.
"Some potential sponsors are interested in the project but their head offices are in Gauteng and regional offices don't have enough budgets to sponsor us.
“And they would normally say it doesn't make business sense for head office to invest in our project because it defeats the purpose of them having regional offices.”
Mogale added that families and friends of those participating had a challenge attending the gala event in Polokwane, because they had to spend on travel and accommodation.
The businesswoman said she was confident that the 2nd annual Miss Bachelorette SA pageant, scheduled for Polokwane next month, would be bigger and better because the “response we got in terms of entries was bigger than last year”.
“We have finalists representing more provinces than we did last year ( last year 6 provinces were represented, this year it's 8 provinces).
“We have more stakeholders such as designers who want to associate themselves with our project following last year's success.
“We have a reigning Queen who has set an example of who an ideal Miss Bachelorette SA is, unlike last year when we did not have anyone handing over the baton.”
Mogale said that the pageant, held for the first time in 2019, was the first of its kind and was meant to empower women who are not married.
“I came up with this idea after asking myself why women would stay in abusive relationships?
“And most say because it’s the prospects of marriage.
“This pageant is meant to combat the level of women abuse that we are experiencing in South Africa and the stigmatisation of women who are not married,” Mogale said.
She said that women who were not married were looked down upon and often not respected.
“Society gives pressure to women who are not married and so to have a pageant like this gives a chance to mature women gives them exposure.”
She said R100 000 will again be up for grabs on the 10th of April when the final event happens.
“Because this is our second year. We have better relationships with our sponsors and we are able to organise it better because we have learnt a lot from our previous one. It’s more interesting to host a pageant when you have a reigning queen,” Mogale concluded.
You have to be between the ages of 25-50, be female, not be married and be a South African citizen to enter the competition.
One of the finalists, representing Kimberly in the Northern Cape, Janine Nieklaasen, 33, said she was excited for an opportunity to enter a pageant that did not discriminate against women.
“Miss Bachelorette is the gap between Miss South Africa and Mrs South Africa.
“I’m a 33-year-old mother of three who is still passionate about entering pageant after a career in beauty competitions.
“I can feel the build up happening and I’m so excited to have entered,” Klassen said.
Representing the Eastern Cape is 41-year-old Khayakazi Koto, who said she entered because the pageant was not a typical beauty pageant.
“Miss Bachelorette does not discriminate because you have a child, you are tall or short, slim or voluptuous.
“It empowers woman from all walks of life and I'm looking forward to working with other women in the competition.
“This is a pageant where I can do what I want to do,” Koto said.
Pretoria News