The South African government withdrew support on Sunday for the local Miss Universe association over the reigning Miss South Africa Lalela Mswane’s decision to compete in a pageant in Israel next month.
The decision was made due to the Miss South Africa organization’s “intransigence and disregard” towards calls to boycott the Miss Universe beauty pageant, the country’s culture ministry said.
Miss Universe has faced boycott calls from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) since it will be held in Eilat on 12 December.
PACBI pointed out that the city of Eilat was built atop the ruins of the small Palestinian fishing town of Umm al-Rashrash on the Red Sea coast and called on participants to withdraw “to avoid complicity in Israel’s apartheid regime.”
The South African ministry said it held “unsuccessful consultations” with the Miss South Africa pageant organizers, which at first appeared “constructive and progressive,” but later deteriorated.
“It has proven difficult to persuade the Miss South Africa pageant organizers to reconsider their decision to partake in the Miss Universe event scheduled to be held in Israel,” the ministry said.
“The atrocities committed by Israel against Palestinians are well-documented,” the ministry added, saying the South African government “cannot in good conscience associate itself with such.”
The minister warned that Mswane’s participation in the event could tarnish her reputation.
