8 February 2025

We welcome the announcement of the winner of the Miss South Africa at Grandwest Cape Town and congratulate Miss Lalela Mswane on her crowning.

We however learn with shock that the @missuniverse event is to be held in Apartheid Israel later this year and call on our newly crowned and all former Miss South Africa’s to boycott that event in protest at the occupation and the cruel treatment of Palestinians at the hands of the Apartheid Israeli regime.

We call on Miss South Africa and the nation as a whole to boycott and withdraw all support for the Miss Universe pageant in Apartheid Israel. There is nothing beautiful about occupation, brutality and institutionalised discrimination against the Palestinian people.

We call on current and past Miss South Africa’s to stand in solidarity with us and boycott the Miss Universe pageant. The brutal punishment and harassment meted out to Palestinians on a daily basis is horrific, detestable and a crime against humanity that must be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Apartheid Israel’s occupation is no less despicable than Apartheid South Africa. The world responded to our call to stand in global solidarity against the Apartheid regime. Now we reiterate our call to boycott, divest and pass sanctions campaign on Apartheid Israel. We must not support or legitimise the victimisation of our Palestinian brothers and sisters.

This call to boycott the Miss Universe pageant in Apartheid Israel comes at a time that we welcome @muna.kurd15 to South Africa. She has personally shared the stories on social media of the suffering of Palestinians in her neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem. Her story highlights the suffering and brutality that Palestinians face in East Jerusalem, South Hebron Hills, Silwan and all over Palestine where illegal settler expansion activity of stealing homes, lands and erasing history. We support Muna El Kurd and all young people in occupied Palestine who fearlessly face Apartheid Israel and its brutal forces.

*Mandela is a SA MP. He is also the chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council, and the grandson of Nelson Mandela.

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