While it had been a norm that the event was held in Mochudi, the organisers have decided to move the grand finale to the capital city. In an interview with the pageant director, Lebopo Bulayani, she said the Miss Kgatleng is a youth empowerment pageant from Mochudi, Kgatleng district, established in 2015. She explained that the pageant groomed young girls through culture mainstreaming, cultural boot camps, life skills training, and mentorships. She added that the queen is selected through her work portrayed as well as the project value she has to do in her community once she gets the crown. Bulayani also said there were a series of activities judged prior to the big day adding that those tasks helped them choose who their representative could be. She said the final stage or coronation night carries 30% of overall performance marks.
She explained that this is solely because they are not just about pretty faces but want a queen who would be able to work and give back to her community. “We choose our crown holder looking at qualities that resemble a true cultural woman who is humble, carries herself with elegance and represents what we stand for. We want a queen who can stand in crowds and talk to others to empower them. Our selection of finalists this year was different as we wanted to cater for all the youth not only Bakgatla as we got requests from all over the country asking to partake in our pageant and decided to open up to everyone. It is quite interesting as we want to expand the brand and grow it,” she said. She explained that they have contestants from areas such as Moshupa, Bokspits and Sebina. Bulayani also said they have no age limit; no height restrictions, also saying mothers were eligible to join their pageant.
This, she said, is to give them confidence and help them redeem their passion and love for pageantry. Furthermore, she stated that they have a cultural boot camp where contestants would carry out do cultural activities and be judged by village elders. Activities include cow milking, goat milking, collection of fired wood and preparing traditional food plates. Bulayani said this year’s queen will walk away with P5, 000 cash, a trip to Sun City as well as sponsorship. She said the reigning Queen, Neo Vicky Monametsi, has carried out her projects very well. Additionally, she said the pageant has grown over the last years and they have now introduced a male ambassador to it who works hand in hand with the queen. “We did this so we try to get through to a boy-child not only a girl-child as we used to,” she said. She pointed out that their major growth was getting the public to vote for their contestants.
Despite this growth, she highlighted that they were still encountering financial problems. She explained that organising a pageant is not cheap. She added that the Miss Independence Kgatleng had positively impacted the Botswana beauty industry adding that they had people such as Tshepo Nthaga, who is now doing well nationally and even internationally.
