South Africa Miss Universe contestant refuses to boycott Israel, despite SA government saying they only have her interests at heart

From the Daily Maverick (South Africa):

The government has withdrawn its support for Lalela Mswane, Miss SA, who is headed to Israel to compete in Miss Universe next month. Civil organisations have also called for her to boycott the beauty pageant.

The government last week withdrew its support for Lalela Mswane, who was crowned Miss SA a month ago, for her upcoming trip to Israel, where Miss Universe will be hosted. 

Nathi Mthethwa, the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, said: “It has proven difficult to persuade the Miss SA pageant organisers to reconsider their decision to partake in the Miss Universe event scheduled to be held in Israel during the month of December 2021. 

The next part is almost unbelievable in how condescending it is:

“What during initial consultations appeared like engaging, constructive and progressive discussions, was later met with an unpleasant demeanour that is intransigent and lacking appreciation of the potential negative impact of such a decision on the reputation and future of a young black woman.”  

So the South African government claims it is only doing what is best for Miss Mswane, saying they only care about her reputation . She, as a young black woman, is obviously too dense to understand what is best for her - she needs her government to pressure her into doing what she clearly doesn't want to do.

The only people who would trash her reputation are the bigots who support BDS - including the South African government itself! If they cared about her reputation, they would support her without reservation. By them saying that she does not know what is best for her, the South African government is acting like racists themselves.

Even though the South African contestants have won the pageant twice in the past four years, Mswane's standing up to pressure from her own government should be reason enough for her to win this year as well.

(h/t Yoel)

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