- Miss Botswana 2017 slated for 28th September
- Preparations for the pageant are always delayed because of sponsorship-organizers
GOSEGO MOTSUMI
Organizers of Miss Botswana pageant, Botswana Council of Women (BCW) say they are ready to tackle any controversies that may arise at this year’s pageant slated for 28th September at Boipuso Hall in Gaborone.
Over the years Miss Botswana has been attracting controversy and earning negative reviews, something which the organizers say will be a thing of the past as they will stage a world class pageant that will leave no room for controversies.
Reflecting on controversies of last year’s pageant, Tamati Ramatlhakwane from BCW despite the issue of the tattoo they, “follow regulations passed on to us by Miss World pageantry and they stated that the contestants should not have a visible tattoo when they are on the ramp. I would not like to get into the issue of favoritism because there never was. People just felt the need to raise issues that were not there.”
In another issue, the coveted Miss World 2017 pageant is scheduled for 18th November and this leaves Miss Botswana with less than two months to crown its queen. This is unlike in the past where Miss Botswana was held long before Miss World finals, giving contestants enough time to groom themselves for the international competition. Asked why the preparations for this year’s pageant were delayed Ramatlhakwane said they were still awaiting sponsorship. “When it comes to sponsors its usually the same people and when there is no money there is nothing we can do other than wait,” she said.
Miss Botswana revealed its top 30 contestants and according to Ramatlhakwane, contestants will go to a boot camp where they will select the top 12 contestants who will learn skills in public speaking, etiquette and all the necessary skills required for Miss World pageantry. She explained that they traveled around the country auditioning and picking the best contestants who had the potential to compete and not just participate. However, in Maun 3 girls auditioned as opposed to 5 last year, in Francistown 3 girls auditioned compared to last year’s 7 while Gaborone recorded 53 girls as opposed last year’s 97. Explaining the declining numbers of girls who audition for the pageant, Ramatlhakwane said last year they received a high number of hopefuls because most girls wanted to be the silver jubilee queen, but this year’s numbers are similar to those recorded in the past years.
“This time we used social media to spread the word about the upcoming auditions because most young people use social media. Our auditions are always successful in Gaborone because most tertiary institutions are here,” she said, explaining that the selection process is never easy because Batswana girls are really beautiful.