NEW PAGEANT COMMITTEE SET TO REBUILD ESWATINI’S BEAUTY INDUSTRY

New leadership takes shape…
More than a beauty contest…
Miss eswatini gets a new direction…
The crown now carries a bigger responsibility…

BY NELIWE NGUBANE

EZULWINI – Behind every crown is a team that determines how a queen is prepared, presented and ultimately carries the name of her country.

For Eswatini’s pageantry industry, that team now has a new face.

Former Miss Eswatini Nompilo Mncina has been appointed Chairperson of the newly established Eswatini Pageant Association, a committee bringing together professionals from pageantry, governance, beauty, fashion, sport, media, communications and business.

The association was unveiled by the Eswatini National Council of Arts and Culture (ENCAC) on Tuesday at the MTN Golf Park in Ezulwini during the NACA Awards nominees reveal.

Its formation marks a new chapter for the country’s pageantry sector, with the association tasked with helping restore professionalism, credibility and structure while overseeing the development of Miss Eswatini.

ENCAC CEO Stanley Dlamini stressed the importance of having a recognised structure that knows and understands the pageants operating in the country.

“If you’ll run a beauty pageant and these guys (Eswatini Beauty Pageant Committee) do not know about your pageant, then it is not a beauty pageant but it is something worse than that,” Dlamini said.

His remarks underline the association’s intended role as a central structure for the industry, particularly in creating greater coordination and visibility around pageantry in Eswatini.

Mncina, who represented Eswatini at the Miss World pageant in 2009, will lead a committee whose experience extends beyond traditional beauty pageantry.

Among the members is Khethiwe Alexander, who has been appointed National Director and Licence Holder of Miss Eswatini.

Alexander brings experience in corporate governance, public relations, marketing, entrepreneurship, beauty and pageantry. She has previously served on the board of the Eswatini Communications Commission (ESCCOM) and has also been listed among directors of the Eswatini Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (EPTC).

She is also the founder of Ethnique Luxury Beauty, a skincare brand launched in 2022.

The committee also includes former international footballer and sports administrator Mfanafuthi “Taribo” Bhembe, lawyer and fashion entrepreneur Pinky Glover, and journalist and broadcaster John Pires, Managing Editor of the Eswatini National News Network.

The mixture of backgrounds is significant because the association’s mandate extends beyond organising a competition.

It is expected to approach pageantry through governance, business development, communications, media, beauty, sport and professional administration.

One of the association’s immediate responsibilities will be the rebranding and repositioning of Miss Eswatini as a credible national institution.

This includes establishing transparent systems for contestant recruitment and selection, professional preparation of contestants, stronger corporate partnerships and greater national visibility.

Alexander will lead the Miss Eswatini programme, including the process of crowning the next national titleholder.

That winner will represent Eswatini at the Miss World 2027 Festival in Tanzania, scheduled for May 2027.

The new approach is intended to prepare the eventual titleholder for more than the stage.

The programme plans to place emphasis on leadership, public speaking, media training, entrepreneurship, personal development, advocacy, personal branding, styling, interview skills and cultural representation.

For aspiring contestants, the changes could affect how they enter and prepare for national pageantry.

For businesses and potential sponsors, the association is positioning Miss Eswatini as a platform for meaningful corporate partnerships and commercial opportunities.

For the country, the stated ambition is to produce professionally prepared ambassadors who can represent Eswatini nationally and internationally.

The association also wants pageantry to become a year-round platform for developing young women rather than an event centred only on the final crowning.

Alexander has said the woman who wears the Miss Eswatini crown represents more than herself, carrying Eswatini’s people, culture, values and aspirations whenever she appears nationally or internationally.

Mncina’s appointment adds a symbolic element to the new structure.

Having previously carried the Miss Eswatini title and represented the country at Miss World in 2009, she now returns to the institution from a leadership position.

Her experience provides a link between the experience of a former titleholder and the association’s broader administrative ambitions.

The committee’s composition, meanwhile, provides evidence of an attempt to bring different areas of expertise into the running of the industry.

Rather than relying solely on traditional pageantry experience, the association brings together individuals connected to governance, corporate affairs, beauty, fashion, sport, media and entrepreneurship.

The establishment of the Eswatini Pageant Association therefore introduces more than a new committee.

It introduces a proposed framework for how pageantry can be governed, how contestants can be developed and how the Miss Eswatini brand can be positioned locally and internationally.

The immediate test will be whether the new structure can translate its stated ambitions into transparent processes, meaningful opportunities for contestants, sustainable partnerships and a professionally prepared national titleholder.

With the next Miss Eswatini expected to represent the Kingdom at the Miss World 2027 Festival, the association now has a clear deadline to turn its plans into action.

The crown may belong to one woman, but the new committee is making it clear that building the institution behind that crown will require an entire team.