Miss SA shines as local boycott goes to court

It’s just days before the Miss Universe pageant in Eilat, and Miss SA Lalela Mswane has been soaking up the sights and sounds of Israel and making friends with dozens of fellow contestants ahead of the glamorous event.

Beauty queens from at least 70 countries have toured a number of popular destinations such as Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, where they smothered themselves in healing black mud.

Over the past few days, they have been in the coastal city of Eilat posing in swimwear.

The deputy mayor of Jerusalem, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, hailed Miss SA for her bravery in deciding to participate in the pageant in spite of Israel-haters’ attempts to stop her from taking part.

Hassan-Nahoum thanked Mswane for “speaking truth to power”, and for participating in spite of the South African government and the minister of sport, arts, and culture withdrawing support for her in November because the contest was taking place in Israel.

Following a fashion event hosted in Jerusalem, she tweeted, “I thanked #MissUniverse South African contestant Lalela Mswane for speaking truth to power and not just being a beautiful but a very brave lady.”

Meanwhile back home, Africa4Palestine, an anti-Israel lobby group aligned with the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, this week submitted an application to the High Court Gauteng Division to be an amicus curiae (an impartial adviser to a court of law in a particular case) in a case brought before the court by Citizens For Integrity (CFI).

CFI has accused the government and the minister of sport, arts, and culture of acting unconstitutionally and irrationally in its “bullying” of Miss SA.

The non-governmental organisation has filed papers in the high court taking the government and Minister Nathi Mthethwa to task for withdrawing its support for the local beauty queen in November, and for calling for her to withdraw from the 70th Miss Universe pageant to be held in Israel at the weekend.

It has demanded an apology and an immediate retraction of the statement withdrawing support for the Miss SA Organisation and Mswane.

Although Mswane is already in Israel, the CFI launched an urgent application to have the government’s statement declared unconstitutional, said Sibongile Cele, the deputy chairperson of the African National Congress Women’s League Johannesburg.

“We aren’t changing our stance, we will give Miss SA our full support. She is being victimised by these people,” said Cele.

In papers before the court, the anti-Israel group asked to be amicus curiae to assist the court in making its decision. It wanted to provide the court with information on alleged atrocities perpetrated by Israel as well as to provide information on reports by human rights bodies drawing parallels in Israel to apartheid in South Africa.

The organisation said the government had adopted a longstanding stance on the Palestinian-Israel conflict, and submissions by the CFI attempted to challenge its policy and stance on the “Israel occupation” and its right to act in accordance with those principles.

“In doing so, it attempts to allege that the government’s stance is one which has been adopted with the intention of allegedly violating the constitutional rights of Miss SA. This stance is blatantly false and misleading”.

Mthethwa, in his heads of argument, accused the CFI of making “wild generalised statements and unsubstantiated allegations” which should be dismissed on the basis they are “hearsay and irrelevant”.

The court papers stated that the minister’s statement was made in “good faith”, and was in line with legitimate government purpose in its “commitment to the advancement and protection of fundamental human rights, not only within the borders of the Republic of South Africa, but also extra-territorially”.

“This commitment is immediately apparent in the Bill of Rights, which is the cornerstone of the constitutional democracy of the Republic and affirms democratic values of human dignity, equality, and freedom,” the papers say.

The minister “Simply reiterates the policy by government in that South Africa will not tolerate the senseless and continued Israeli bombardment of the Palestinian people and denial of their right to self-determination. Accordingly, the egregious violation of human rights by the Israel people towards Palestine weighs more than the support that South Africa should show for Miss Universe pageant to be held in Israel.”

It was heavily argued that the matter was not urgent and should be dismissed.

Willie Hofmeyr, the retired head of the asset forfeiture unit at the National Prosecuting Authority and one of the founders and directors of CFI, was present during the proceedings and was unable to comment at the time of going to press.

Cele, who is also the spokesperson for the CFI, insisted that Miss SA’s rights had been infringed upon. “As a committed Christian, I felt it was important to look at her rights as a woman and her rights as Miss SA. The protesters can jump and scream, but we will stand up against this injustice. As Christians, we believe Israel is the apple of G-d’s eye, and we will continue to pray for peace between Israel and South Africa.”

Anti-Israel lobbyists staged a small protest outside court on Wednesday, 8 December. They have accused CFI of being “a front company for the Zionist lobby” and in an online poster advertising the protest, they said, “Israel keep your dirty hands off our government.”

Throughout Miss SA’s short reign, lobbyists have attempted to harass and bully her into withdrawing from the pageant, but she has stood her ground.

Beautiful pictures of her in a white bathing suit enjoying the sun at Coral Beach in Eilat were posted on the Miss SA Instagram page. The Miss Universe organisation has challenged contestants to speak about sustainable fashion and according to the Miss SA Organisation, Mswane has embraced the challenge by using special outfits worn by her predecessors.

She has consistently thanked everyone who has supported her in the run-up to the competition.

The CFI opposed the application for amicus curiae. At the time of going to press, court was still in progress.