Losers claim Miss SA contest rigged

THE Miss South Africa crown was unfairly guaranteed to Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, the mother of one of the finalists claims.

“This reflects as pure and utter favouritism,” the woman said on condition of anonymity.

The pageant’s finalists called a meeting with event organisers about a month before the winner was announced to lay allegations that the event was rigged, she said.

“In that meeting they relayed their concerns and their fears.”

A number of the contestants had asked for the meeting after suspicions mounted of a plan to guarantee the election for Nel-Peters.

Claudia Henkel, the PR manager of Miss South Africa, confirmed the meeting but called any allegations of an improper election “unfounded”.

“The committee addressed these matters in detail and the contestants confirmed they were satisfied with the resolution,” she said.

The contestant’s mother said her daughter and others began to suspect a plot when the organisers, Sun International, allegedly included a stop at Nel-Peters’s charity event on the contestants’ itinerary.

Participants had previously agreed to attend only Sun International events as a group to avoid giving any individual an advantage, the woman said.

In the last round of judging, the finalists were asked pointed questions about topics such as the meeting, the contestant’s mother alleged.

“I really wished (the judges) stuck to their mandate. Wouldn’t it be nice if they stuck to asking her the ‘100 ways she’d like to change the world’ questions?” – Staff Reporter