Bulawayo disappointed over Miss Zimbabwe

FOR more than a decade now it has become more of a right, ritual and norm for Bulawayo to land and retain the prestigious Miss Zimbabwe title or even secure a top spot among the winners in the modelling extravaganza but this year, it seems, the city gave everything to its northern rival as the pageant was dominated by Harare models.

Or perhaps due to ill-fate and maybe complacency, Bulawayo's winning element was ruined as the city, through its representative, Miss Bulawayo - Melissa Chaka, failed to even make it to the top three.

This was a development veteran modelling instructor and agency director, Sarah Mpofu-Sibanda said would likely see a rise in competition in the industry, even though the lucky streak had been crumpled.

"As far as I can remember Bulawayo has remarkably been home to the Miss Zimbabwe title or home to the top contestants that would have been competing in the pageant. It is disappointing to note that this year we failed to bring the crown or even land a position in the top three.

The main issue is that we only had one representative who managed to represent the city. The other models could not make it to the pageant, as they had other pressing issues to attend to such as school and work.

"However, this is a competition and all things being fair the best girl won and we are comfortable with that. The fact that we have managed to get into the top slots every year doesn't necessarily need to follow every year. This development will push us as an industry to work even harder in maintaining its future and development. I understand where the licence holders are coming from in wanting to add glitz and glamour to the industry through competition and it is really appreciated," she said.

Mpofu-Sibanda highlighted the need to stand by the reigning Miss Bulawayo, as she had done her best in the competition, given the circumstances and competition she was facing.

"Melissa was our girl when we held Miss Bulawayo. Yes, there were public complaints about her weight when we crowned her but she worked tirelessly to trim down to an ideal model's body. After that she was a force to reckon with and by far surpassed many in the contest," she said.

On whether the failure was a pointer to Bulawayo's modelling industry withering, Mpofu-Sibanda said the Miss Bulawayo pageant had become too much of a cliché and needed to be revamped and turn it into something much bigger and more interesting.

"Because it hasn't been held in a long time you would think that pageantry was docile. There are other pageants that have been held, small as they may appear they do the industry some good," she noted.

Mpofu-Sibanda said the industry needed support and urged the corporate sector to step in and give support.
"With a lot of corporate support, Miss Zimbabwe or the industry as a whole will become bigger and better. We need the corporate world to support us so as to ensure the revival of the industry," she said.

Mpofu-Sibanda also expressed disappointment on the failure by the new licence holders to acknowledge former Miss Zimbabwe 2012, Bongani Dhlakama, as a title holder.

"Bongani is still a former Miss Bulawayo and Miss Zimbabwe and we as an industry in Bulawayo recognise her for that. We spoke about the issue of her not being recognised as a former beauty queen and we managed to cast the negative feeling of disdain and anguish towards her and from the new Miss Zimbabwe title holders aside. It is and will always be a fact that she was Miss Zimbabwe 2012.

"She attended all functions where she was requested to appear as the country's ambassador. She served the country very well and it is prudent to note that she was never involved in any scandal, had her name tainted in anyway and we owe her much respect for that," said Mpofu-Sibanda.

She, on the other hand, said she couldn't really blame the new Miss Zimbabwe licence holders for their near sightedness, stating that they had their own reason for not acknowledging Dhlakama.

"We can't really blame them, as they may have had their own reasons for not recognising her," she said.
Reigning Miss Bulawayo - Melissa Chaka said she had done her best to represent the city.

"I guess it wasn't Bulawayo's year, I tried my best and I was the only one from Bulawayo to take part in the event. The major thing that contributed to my defeat was my height. Out of 22 girls I managed to qualify in the top 15 that took part in the finale of the event. I possessed all the qualities to participate in the event but I was a little short of height.

"Another aspect that needs to be noted is that the industry lacks support. The corporate world isn't supporting the industry, thus would be models back away from the industry, as they don't see the need to participate," she said. Thabiso Rumbidzai Phiri from Chitungwiza was crowned Miss Zimbabwe 2014 while Tendai Hunda and Letwin Chinomona were first and second princesses.

In past years Bulawayo has had the likes of Una Patel, Oslie Muringani-Matsikenyeri, Lorraine Maphala, Caroline Marufu, Samantha Tshuma and recently Dhlakama clinching the Miss Zimbabwe title.