The pageant that fights social ills

After its maiden start in 2020, the Miss Rosettenville event promises to be bigger and better this year.

One of the organisers of this pageant, Jimmy Ntuli from Active Youngins Foundation, said this year’s event will be massive as it will not only cover Rosettenville but the whole of Region F.

He said this year’s event will be like a programme of events where they will host several workshops and training that are aimed towards educating about gender-based violence (GBV) which will be facilitated by medical professionals, social workers, the Department of Social Development representatives and creatives from the arts industry.

This will be in line with this year’s theme, which is Gender-Based Violence.

“Last year’s event was an eye-opener for us. We found out that there are many cases of rape and GBV that were not reported. Through the workshops we had, we found out that it was difficult for young girls to come out, and that is why this year we will work closely with our local police and social workers to help everyone in need,” explained Jimmy.

This year’s event will be done differently whereby each ward in Region F will be represented and crowned for social cohesion. The competition is open to all races, including people with disabilities and the LGBTIQ community.

“It will be even better than the previous year as the mayor of Johannesburg, Geoff Makhubo, through our engagements with him has officially endorsed the event. We have also been approached by businesses, civil organisations and other stakeholders to host the event due to the enormous impact and positive changes the previous event has brought to the community.

“We have also received huge sponsorships from businesses and other foundations to the value of R100 000 that will go towards tuition fees for the winner. “We aim to empower young women to be self-sufficient and independent. It will also empower young women to strengthen their economic position and gain social power.

“We aim to educate young boys and men about GBV to change their gender stereotypes, challenges, gender norms and attitudes that justify intimate part violence, redefine concepts of masculinity based on dominance and control, and also to engage them in stopping violence against women.

“The pageant will improve young women’s employment opportunities by increasing their influence in relationship decisions and ability to solve conflict, strengthen their social networks and reduce GBV,” he said.

The registration process will take place from February 20 to June 30 and it is targeting Region F participants from the ages of 14 to 35 years old. The registration for this year’s event is R200 per person and there will be no auditions this year.

The finale event will take place on November 13 and the venue will be communicated in due course.

“We would like to call upon all businesses and individual sponsors to come on board and tackle this pandemic called GBV in Region F. We also need sponsorships such as make-up artists, decoration, fashion and graphic designers, filmmakers, videographers, venues, refreshments, sound system, musicians, dancers, motivational speakers, poets and anyone who is in the creative industry to participate in this event,” said Jimmy.

For more information contact Jimmy Ntuli at Activeyounginsfoundation.ayf@gmail.com or on 062 149 0909 or secretary Zinzi Mdandalaza on 071 751 2120.