JOHANNESBURG
- The South African government has said it is disassociating itself from the country's beauty pageant organizers' decision to participate in the annual Miss Universe pageant scheduled for next month in Israel.
The decision came last Sunday after the growing calls and protests in the country against Miss South Africa Laila Mswani, to get her to boycott the competition hosted by the city of Eilat on December 12, in which more than 70 competitors are participating.
The organizers of the local beauty pageant had insisted that Mswani, who was recently crowned with the title, attend the event, arguing that the Miss Universe pageant was not "a politically inspired event."
Miss South Africa 2021 Lalila Mswani (Getty)
The government withdraws its support
The Ministry of Culture and Arts said in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Al Jazeera Net, that "it has proven difficult to persuade the organizers of the Miss South Africa contest to reconsider their decision to participate in the Miss Universe event," adding that accordingly, the government "withdraws its support following the intransigence of the organizers." Ignore the advice.
"The atrocities committed by Israel against the Palestinians are well documented and the government, as the legitimate representative of the South African people, cannot conscientiously associate itself with these crimes," said Ms. Kumalo, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Culture and Arts.
In her speech to Al Jazeera Net, Kumalo said that Palestine faithfully supported South Africa in its struggle against the apartheid regime, and played a role in the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement that formed one of the main pillars of the struggle to overthrow the apartheid regime, stressing that "as a democratic nation that defends the rights of All human beings, we cannot associate with any country that wants to engage Israel at this time."
South African Sports and Arts Minister Nathi Mithwa said moving forward with the event could "prove to be disastrous for Miss South Africa's future and her public standing as a young black woman".
The South African Jewish House of Representatives (SAJBD) criticized the minister after the government withdrew its support for the contest, noting that the minister's voice is only present when it comes to appeasing anti-Israel radicals, according to the council's statement.
South Africa supports the Palestinian cause with official diplomatic relations established in 1995, a year after the end of apartheid.
And it announced the reduction of the level of its diplomatic representation in Israel in 2019 and withdrew its ambassador, in implementation of a decision taken by the ruling party in this regard about a year ago, in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Part of the protests against Mswani's participation in a competition hosted by Israel (Al-Jazeera)
Popular interaction and party welcome
Several events were held in Johannesburg to protest the decision, in which dozens of institutions supporting the Palestinian cause participated, calling on Miss Mswani to reverse the decision to participate.
Ali Kumabe, one of the participants in the event, told Al Jazeera Net that the decision was popularly and governmentally rejected, stressing that the miss of their country's going to the apartheid state is to turn a blind eye to the practices practiced against South Africans during the apartheid regime.
For its part, the ruling African National Congress welcomed the decision of the South African government, and stated that it continues to urge the organizers of the Miss South Africa pageant to "heed the overwhelming call" to boycott the next Miss Universe contest in Israel.
Party spokesman Paul Mabe said the racism, human rights abuses, illegal settlements, ongoing occupation and apartheid laws in Israel are well documented and should be persuasive enough to opt out of the event.
As for Mandela Mandela, the eldest grandson of the late South African leader Nelson Mandela, he confirmed that he supports the position of the Minister, Mithwa, describing him as courageous.
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Mandela said that the Israeli lobby in South Africa exposes itself when it talks about dialogue and peace building, at a time when they are engaged in forced removal operations in Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, southern Hebron Hills and all over occupied Palestine, calling on Israel to stop tricks of dialogue and peace building to cover up the situation. Occupation and apartheid of the Palestinian territories.