Current Mr Gay World SA dissociates himself from the organisation

In a recent lengthy statement, the current Mr Gay World South Africa, Bonginkosi Ndima, has dissociated himself from the organisation citing a number of issues that left him feeling as though the organisation was not as serious about integration as they say they are.

“The disrespect I’ve been getting from the organization is enough closure for me. It has made me realise that the Mr Gay World South Africa doesn’t want integration, they never did, which is why after over 10 years of running the competition there’s never been a black face to hold the title,” wrote Ndima.  

He made a range of accusations against the organisation including the accusation that they “always strategically place” contestants of colour as second or third runners up “just to insult us.”

Ndima further claimed that organisers were not happy to pass the title to him as the runner up after Louw Breytenbach won the global Mr Gay World title. 

“The organisation didn’t even want me to have a formal ceremony to announce such. Their excuse was ‘it will be too costly to do so it’s better to send the sash via courier.’”

Ndima also took exception to the fact that he had to secure his own media coverage despite the organisation promising they would assist with this.

“The organization has done nothing for me since my announcement. There’s no contract, no prizes, and all I keep getting is empty promises and delayed responses.” 

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He said he even had to fund his own trip to Johannesburg for his inauguration and these costs included flights and accommodation.

“All they assisted with was R400 which they said was to cover for my meals. And Louw Breytenbach is my witness in all of this as he was sent the money and also assisted in me crashing at his place for the first night. And I distaste the fact that they want to front as doing all this to uplift the gay community when in fact what they do is self- enrichment. I can not be associated with such.”

“I want to thank every one of you who supported me from the time of voting till now. I went in with wishes to show and inspire young gay men, especially black men that it is okay to be gay and to accept your sexuality,” added Ndima. 

“No one should make us feel it’s un-African to be who we were meant to be, I hope this message was sent across. I wanted to be involved in the movement that will educate and uplift the whole LGBTQIA community, not the selected few. And I hope to every young gay man out there you know and understand that you are more than enough, you are popping no matter where you are at or whatever platform you stand on.”

The former Mr Gay World SA concluded by explaining that his statement was not meant to signal that he was giving up on these goals and highlighted the fact that his mental health was “much more important than forcing myself into spaces that weren’t created to cater to people of my color.”

The Citizen reached out to the Mr Gay World SA organisation for comment on the matter and had not yet received a response at the time of writing. 

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