SA beauty queen loses crown
2005-01-28 07:51
Johannesburg - Candice Morgan, Miss Deaf South Africa, who also won the Miss Deaf World crown last year, will have to relinquish her titles after giving birth to a baby boy.
Morgan, who hails from Lenasia in Johannesburg, will have to hand over her South African and international titles to her first princesses in the various competitions.
Organisers of the Miss Deaf South Africa competition heard recently that Morgan gave birth in December last year.
The rules of both competitions state clearly that the title holder may not become pregnant during or before her reign or have a child before the time.
Morgan played the role of Yashika, a deaf unmarried mother, in the programme Eve's Cradle, which was screened on Deaf TV on SABC3 last year.
Narda Els, owner of Miss Deaf South Africa, said in a media statement on Thursday they were shocked by the news revealed to them in a letter from Morgan.
"She was not only elected to represent the South African deaf community, but also the world as a whole," Nel said.
In her letter Morgan said it would sound naïve but at the time of the competitions, she had no idea she was pregnant.
Elize van der Merwe, organiser, said that they experienced problems at the end of last year when Morgan did not turn up for appointments and photo sessions.
Among others she was invited to a function of President Thabo Mbeki in the presidential guest house and had been asked to represent South Africa as ambassador at the Paralympics.
Morgan then made the excuse that she had serious back problems.
The organisers later consulted their legal representatives as she had not been meeting her obligations.
"We are still in contact with Candice and do not want to be involved in mud-slinging, but we still feel that she has disappointed us tremendously," Van der Merwe said.
Morgan's father Raymond said his daughter would talk to the media at a later stage.