Joléne Leeuwner-Maritz, a busy business woman and entrepreneur, is the brain behind the new pageant that is replacing the bikini contest with a brainy debate.
Before launching the pageant, the business-minded woman initiated the No-Crime Culture Project as a result of her sister emigrating due to the high crime rate in South Africa.
The project aims to educate the public about issues of morality and find the root causes of violence. It was highly acclaimed and the Department of Education recognised the need for such a curriculum in the school syllabus. As a result, from 2017 the national school syllabus will be tweaked to include a module called morality education as part of life orientation.
The Justice Pageant is an idea that formed from the project and aims to find male and female role models in the country who will be able to open dialogue about the crime problem in the country, and teach the public about morality.
“South Africa is in the midst of a severe moral crisis,” Leeuwner-Maritz said.
“All of us have no other choice but to be part of the solution to eradicate crime in South Africa. The No-Crime Culture Project endeavours to find some of these solutions, and the Justice Pageant was established to assist The No-Crime Culture Project to execute these strategies.”
The judges at the pageant will be ANC regional secretary, Dada Morero; Democratic Alliance Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, Natasha Mazzone; director of Psycho Social Support, Anthony Meyers; and Leeuwner-Maritz.
This pageant will allow contestants to use their minds to win over the judges in a series of debates, planned projects, and prepared and impromptu speeches.
The competition is open to anyone who can be a moral example to children, facilitate the organisation of strategies to teach the youth about morality, and turn strategies into action that will assist to eradicate crime and immorality in the country.
Details: www.nocrimeculture.co.za
