Publications
The Miss SA contest has been saved!
The competition opens tomorrow, and the winner will be crowned on Women’s Day, August 9. It will also be broadcast live on Mzansi Magic.
Rapport, City Press’ sister publication, is reporting that Stephanie Weil, owner of Weil Entertainment, jumped at the chance when she heard that the future of the competition was in jeopardy.
This, after Cell C withdrew as the pageant’s main sponsor and an anonymous source confirmed that Sun International was looking for a buyer for the beauty pageant.
Read: A Miss SA with a difference
“Weil Entertainment is the new managing director of the competition. We will manage the pageant in partnership with Sun International, which will still be involved as a partner and sponsor,” Weil confirmed this week.
She said another sponsor was LFP Transformation and that more sponsors would be revealed to the public soon.
Sun International’s Gareth Flusk said the company was excited about these recent developments and the partnership agreement.
“We have been involved with the competition for the past six years and have learnt a lot,” he said.
“We also think it is time for innovative changes and we believe this year’s competition will be the best yet.”
Weil has been involved in the Miss SA competition since 2013 as public relations officer and manager of the winner’s diary.
She said the pageant had grown over the past few years and had long ceased to be about beauty alone. She stressed how important it was for the winner to be a good representative for all South African women.
“South African women have always been unique because they are multifaceted. It is not only important for them to be attractive but also strong, independent, informed and clever,” she said.
She said the Miss SA contest was a good platform for women from any background, culture or race to develop themselves and start a successful career.
“The competition is about female empowerment. That is why it was important for me to get involved and to ensure that this unique competition carries on.”
Entries for Miss SA open tomorrow morning at 9am. The closing date for applications is June 10. Once a short list of 50 women has been culled from the digital entries, those women will be flown to Joburg for interviews to choose the finalists. The finalists will be given make-up lessons and social media courses before the final round takes place.
