Pageant comes clean
“There is no money generated through the Miss Namibia pageantry,” said Natasha Rabe.
A commotion erupted on social media recently questioning the integrity of the Miss Namibia pageant. This occurred when a screenshot that stated that the semi-finalists must sell tickets to the upcoming Winter Ball in order to get into the top 12, began to circulate. The public responded in anger saying that it is the organisation that must sell the tickets and not the girls, and that such a 'deal' for a spot in the top 12 is unacceptable. Things escalated further when a poster requesting photographers to sponsor their services to the organisation saw the light, which the public felt is unjust.
Speaking to tjil, Natasha Rabe, one of the organisers of the pageant, and the one who sent out the message, said the girls are not being forced to sell tickets and she further said the message only showed a portion of the text and not all of it. The pageant, together with the 30 semi-finalists will host the fundraising Winter Bash at the Windhoek Country Club Resort. The lady that raised the most funds for the production of the grand crowning event will receive the title of Miss Debutant and be an automatic finalist in the competition. During this event, the other top 11 finalists will be announced, who will be selected by a panel of judges that are usually from the sponsors.
“When a finalist is titled Miss Namibia, they have to represent the country at international level at other events. We are simply asking the girls to go out and promote the event by selling the tickets and to also promote themselves. This gives one of them a chance of automatically getting into the top 12. My message may have come out strong but it was simply meant to serve as an encouragement,” said Rabe. The finalist who took the screenshot admitted to not having understood the reason finalists have to sell tickets and apologised.
Rabe further explained that every Miss Namibia season, there is no money in the pageant and that everything used comes in form of a sponsorship. Miss Namibia, unlike many pageants that take place, does not ask for application fees which could help with the funding hence the reliance of help from stakeholders. According to Rabe, services from the MC, to the designers, photographers, venue, the prizes, the live broadcasting and the makeup artists are all sponsored. Priority is given to locals and should there not be any, they extend calls to South Africa for sponsorship.
“We have to fight and convince these designers and photographers to sponsor their garments and it's very hard because it is their material and time put in and they don't get paid for it. All the South African gowns worn by Miss Namibia are sponsored. We do not pay anyone and we are very grateful for everyone who has ever come on board,” said Rabe.
Rabe says the aim of Miss Namibia is to help and support each other and the winner should be able to go out and help the community. She concluded by saying that if people continue trying to fight it and to break it down damage will be done.
“Four of the girls said they have lost sponsorship or are able to sell their tickets because of the posts circulating. Just through that, we have lost so much and we will continue loosing. It's frustrating because people don't know the work that goes into building the event. There are some girls who you can really see that they love taking part and those are the girls that make it all pleasurable,” said Rabe.
Miss Namibia is currently looking for a chaperone that will stay with the girls at the Windhoek Country Club for a week leading up to the main event. Interested candidates must contact the director on her email at [email protected].
Speaking to tjil, Natasha Rabe, one of the organisers of the pageant, and the one who sent out the message, said the girls are not being forced to sell tickets and she further said the message only showed a portion of the text and not all of it. The pageant, together with the 30 semi-finalists will host the fundraising Winter Bash at the Windhoek Country Club Resort. The lady that raised the most funds for the production of the grand crowning event will receive the title of Miss Debutant and be an automatic finalist in the competition. During this event, the other top 11 finalists will be announced, who will be selected by a panel of judges that are usually from the sponsors.
“When a finalist is titled Miss Namibia, they have to represent the country at international level at other events. We are simply asking the girls to go out and promote the event by selling the tickets and to also promote themselves. This gives one of them a chance of automatically getting into the top 12. My message may have come out strong but it was simply meant to serve as an encouragement,” said Rabe. The finalist who took the screenshot admitted to not having understood the reason finalists have to sell tickets and apologised.
Rabe further explained that every Miss Namibia season, there is no money in the pageant and that everything used comes in form of a sponsorship. Miss Namibia, unlike many pageants that take place, does not ask for application fees which could help with the funding hence the reliance of help from stakeholders. According to Rabe, services from the MC, to the designers, photographers, venue, the prizes, the live broadcasting and the makeup artists are all sponsored. Priority is given to locals and should there not be any, they extend calls to South Africa for sponsorship.
“We have to fight and convince these designers and photographers to sponsor their garments and it's very hard because it is their material and time put in and they don't get paid for it. All the South African gowns worn by Miss Namibia are sponsored. We do not pay anyone and we are very grateful for everyone who has ever come on board,” said Rabe.
Rabe says the aim of Miss Namibia is to help and support each other and the winner should be able to go out and help the community. She concluded by saying that if people continue trying to fight it and to break it down damage will be done.
“Four of the girls said they have lost sponsorship or are able to sell their tickets because of the posts circulating. Just through that, we have lost so much and we will continue loosing. It's frustrating because people don't know the work that goes into building the event. There are some girls who you can really see that they love taking part and those are the girls that make it all pleasurable,” said Rabe.
Miss Namibia is currently looking for a chaperone that will stay with the girls at the Windhoek Country Club for a week leading up to the main event. Interested candidates must contact the director on her email at [email protected].
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