As in cricket, the ANC government wants to compel South Africa’s beauty queen to bow before racial politics

15 November 2021

The FF Plus laments the fact that the ANC government has callously decided to dash the hopes of Miss South Africa, Lalela Mswane, to participate in the Miss Universe pageant with her country's full support – likewise, political interference recently also put inappropriate pressure on the country's cricket team in the T20 World Cup Tournament.

Similar to attempts to further the Black Lives Matter racial agenda in cricket, the government and organisations, like the Palestinian political party Fatah, are making a racial issue of the international beauty pageant, which is due to take place in Israel.

South Africa's Department of Arts, Culture and Sports has turned its back on Mswane by saying that the government has withdrawn its support for her to represent South Africa in the Miss Universe pageant due to Israel's "atrocities and racism" against Palestinians.

This is ironic seeing as Mswane herself has already indicated that in her year as Miss South Africa, she plans to address one of the social evils that the ANC government created in her own country, namely unemployment and the consequent poverty, desperation and crime.

The ANC is conveniently forgetting that it has also institutionalised racism in South Africa in the form of Affirmative Action (AA) and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and that it has also committed various atrocities against its own people due to the high levels of unemployment.

A staggering total of 13,8 million people, or 25% of the country's population (Statistics South Africa), do not have enough money to buy food. Our crime and murder figures are some of the highest in the world.

And in contrast to the beauty and other sport competitions, the ANC government will easily win the international crown for the most corrupt and incompetent government in the world.

South Africa's foreign policy towards Israel is out of touch with reality and archaic. The FF Plus is, therefore, calling on the country's leading companies and the public to show their support for Mswane and her participation in the competition so as to send a loud and clear message to the ANC: Political interference in sport and arts or cultural competitions must stop.

The ANC must also tread carefully, other countries may decide to draw the line when it comes to the government's interference and racial instructions in sport and that will undoubtedly have a detrimental impact on our national sports teams.

Issued by Corné Mulder, FF Plus MP and chief spokesperson: International Relations and Cooperation, 15 November 2021