Several pageant organisers and other influential figures in
the industry have been accused of favouritism and seeking sexual favours from
models in exchange for winning the crowns.
Also, nudity scandals have characterised some of the
pageants and this has left many Zimbabwean citizens with a negative attitude
towards modelling.
The selection of the final contestants for the prestigious
Miss Universe Zimbabwe crown has been rocked by controversy amid allegations of
vote manipulation and favouritism, in what appears to be the template for many
of the country’s beauty pageants.
Last week, Miss Universe Zimbabwe organisers selected a
bevy of 12 finalists ahead of the pageant’s grand finale set for September 16
at Hippodrome in Harare.
The winner at the pageant to be held under the theme,
Beautifully Confident, is set to represent Zimbabwe at the 72nd edition of Miss
Universe on November 18, 2023 in El Salvador, Central America.
The pageant national director and former Miss Zimbabwe
Tendai Hunda is under scrutiny, as she stands accused of hand-picking some
models.
According to sources privy to the developments, Hunda is
alleged to have sneaked a model into the finalists because her boyfriend has
financial muscle and is among the chief sponsors of the pageant.
One of the models Tashinga Musara, who was among the final
25 contestants, took to social media platform, Instagram, to expose the alleged
scam.
“I am not a sore loser, but I stand for what is right. Miss
Universe Zimbabwe is a scam, they already had a favourite from the get-go and
allowed the other 24 incredible women to waste their time and money,” she said.
Musara confessed that she did not audition for the Miss
Universe Zimbabwe, but she was shocked to find herself among the top 25
contestants.
“I made it to the top 25, got me wondering what criteria
exactly did they use to pick me, but they saw +45 (country code) and thought we
got another diaspora on our hands, you don’t even know me, don’t know if I can
speak or not, don’t know if I can catwalk or not, but that is Zimbabwe for
you,” she said, adding that it was a huge embarrassment to the country.
Speaking to NewsDay Life & Style, some of the models
and sources who requested to be anonymous for fear of victimisation confirmed
that the selection process was marred with irregularities.
“There has been a lot of favouritism and leniency in the
selection process of Miss Universe Zimbabwe towards their favourite contestants
while some of us were pressured to do things at a specific time.
"For example, we were told to do a video of ourselves
that was to be submitted at a set time, but others still had to send it a day
after destroying the whole process of a presentation under pressure,” said the
source.
“There were some models who claimed that they experienced
some challenges during a Zoom interview where they were supposed to do their
presentations. The pageant director then assigned them to take videos doing the
exact presentations that were done on the Zoom interview and the videos of
other girls raised suspicion as it seemed like they were pre-recorded.”
The source continued: “We later noticed that on the videos,
some of the girls had different hairstyles from the ones they sported on the
Zoom interview, also with different backgrounds, everything was just different.
All these girls were selected and are part of the 12 finalists.”
“All this was just done deliberately for these girls to
qualify. They were given the leniency to redo their videos while the videos of
other contestants were trimmed short so as not to convey their messages.”
Another model added: “Some of the finalists had the worst
interviews. A couple of girls who did not do well in the Zoom interviews are in
the top 12.
"They showed the world rehearsed videos because some
girls in that top 12 did not do well.”
The other models noted rules that were set did not apply to
everyone.
“Some girls used robots to vote for themselves and they
were not disqualified from contesting. Well, Tashinga spoke to the group
addressing her grievances and after that one of the organisers just destroyed
the platform as if nothing happened”.
The models said there was also manipulation of the voting
system.
“It was free votes at first then all of a sudden they
removed the free voting platform and introduced the boosted vote platform where
we were required to pay to cast a vote,” she noted.
The models said they took their grievances to Hunda, but
she professed ignorance of the matters. Contacted for comment, Hunda dismissed
the allegations as false, noting that the aggrieved models never communicated
their grievances to the Miss Universe Zimbabwe organisers.
“I feel like this news should not be published. Zimbabwe
has just been reinstated on the Miss Universe and all the bad publicity is not
good for us because we just got back onto the stage. We really need to protect
the brand for Zimbabwe’s sake”, she told NewsDay Life & Style.
“The international community is watching, and allegations
are coming 22 years after being put back on stage and the first thing we are
doing is bringing a scandal. I don’t think that is good for the brand
Zimbabwe.”
Hunda said the models, who had made it to the finalists,
were not related to anyone (within the Miss Universe team), adding that they
were new faces that deserved to be the finalists.
“On the voting system, it was very transparent. Initially
the voting process was free, one free vote a day.
"During the free voting platform, two girls
manipulated votes by using applications that boosted the number of votes until
the whole system was compromised and blocked,” she said.
“The voting process was then restarted and the people who
were the highest placed in the voting platform still made it to the top 12.
"No one was cheated out of the top 12. However, those
that cheated by manipulating votes were not disqualified from contesting, but
had their votes considered null and void.”
On Musara's claim that she tried to reach Hunda, the latter
said the former did not communicate with anyone from Miss Universe Zimbabwe
team.
“I saw her post on the internet. I am the one who sent her
(Musara) a message (WhatsApp), that I hear you got grievances, would you like
to talk them out, she blue ticked. I called her,” Hunda explained.
“The last message I received from the model was asking why
she could not make it to the top 12 and I responded that I was going to get
back to her since I was flying.”
The 12 finalists eyeing the crown are Stacy Hall, Allyfina
Mwanyali, Brooke-Bruk Jackson, Angela Guta, Amanda Mpofu, Yamikani Nyenga,
Nicole Musiyarira, Prudence Moyo, Noliwe Shand, Audrey Ward, Nokutenda Marumbwa
and Life Matunzeni. Newsday
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