MBOMBELA – The road to being crowned Miss Mpumalanga is not an easy one, and comprises several stages until a winner is finally found. That is the assertion of the Crowning Miss Mpumalanga 2015 judges in justifying their choice of queen, Zamanene Nene, who was crowned on Saturday night at the Emnotweni Arena.
The scenario at most beauty pageants, is that people from a certain area or region would prefer their own to wear the crown, “but the journey begins long before the final day,” according to a statement by the judging panel.
“In this instance, it began in November last year during auditions in the three districts, when intensive interviews were conducted with the girls to test their intelligence, and beauty counts a lot too.
“Throughout the journey, each judge scores the girls individually after which they consolidate the scores. On Saturday, each one had their own choice of the top-five girls and the top-three winners, separately before consolidating the scores.
“At times we enter into heated deliberations, but not this time. It was an easy consolidation backstage.
We’re happy with the queen and appeal for support from the general audience,” the statement read.
The show itself lived up to expectations. The performances by KO, Afro’Traction, Fistaz Mixwell, Glen Lewis, Unkle Mdu, Sdunkero, Sweet Mike, Shabba and many others including a local comedian, offered five-star entertainment to the delight of the audience.
Mzimari Productions has proven once again that it is the best locally when it comes to events management.
The highlight of the evening was when host, Metro FM’s Tbo Touch called upon main sponsor, Mpumalanga Gambling Board (MGB) CEO, Mr Bheki Mlambo and conducted a interview with him right on stage, elaborating on the growth of both brands, thus developing young women to becoming responsible citizens of the country.
Tbo was accompanied by TV personality and celebrity, Kedibone Mkhabela who is originally from the area. As can be deduced from above, it was only Tbo, Glen and Fistaz who were not originally from here. The rest were homegrown personalities who have become household names nationally.
Mzimari Productions’ CEO, Gugu Nyarenda, responding to Tbo’s question concerning the queen’s short-term goals said, “It all begins with getting to know the person by visiting her home because I don’t need divas, but the humble Zamenene who was born and bred in Standerton.
“That’s the real person that I’ll be working with throughout this year. All my past queens have been humble and as queen, you get to work with various stakeholders and ordinary community members, so you need to be at the level of the people all the time.
“My queen is a classy person who acclimatises to any given situation and makes a difference in people’s lives,”
she ended.
Congratulating all the 12 finalists was the MEC for economic development and tourism, Eric Kholwane who said they were all winners.
“We are proud as a provincial government to be associated with such an initiative that is aimed at the development and upliftment of our children, while at the same time marketing our beautiful province.
We congratulate Zamenene and all the other finalists for making it this far,” he said.
Mlambo, said he was happy and satisfied with the manner in which the pageant was held and also with the choice of the winner.
“We appreciate the fact that Zamenene is still very young and this will come in handy during our illegal and irresponsible gambling campaigns. As main sponsors, we are very proud of this pageant,” said Mlambo.