Africa-Press – Lesotho. Boribeng High School student, Paballo Mpakanyane, scooped the Miss Culture Lesotho 2022 Popularity Contest, which saw her walking away with M2 000 in prize money.
After the counting and auditing of the votes that the 54 Miss Culture Lesotho 2022 contestants accumulated in May, Paballo and National University of Lesotho (NUL) pharmacy student, Nthabeleng Molelengoane, were on equal votes at 7 006 each.
Film Sector Groundbreakers management, as pageant organisers, decided on a special vote as only one of them could win the M2 000 cash prize. The special race was followed on the King Moshoeshoe Film Festival Facebook page.
The special vote was on June 13 launched for seven days for voters to decide who should be the ultimate winner. Voting closed on the evening of June 19.
Within 24 hours of both beauties being thrown into the race they surpassed a thousand votes, with Nthabeleng leading by 41 votes at 1 263 votes, while Paballo trailed at 1 222.
Management of the pageant also decided to award Nthabeleng a consolation prize of M1000 for the hard work they both displayed. Paballo hails from St Paul’s Catholic Mission, in Botha-Bothe and is a Form E student at Boribeng High School in the same district.
She was born on 21 April 2002. She is a professional model signed up with SothoKids Culture Agency. It is her first time to enter a beauty pageant. Asked about her reasons for entering the beauty pageant Paballo said: “I have never entered any beauty pageant before, but I decided to be part of this one because culture is part of our daily lives.
It is what identifies us and what makes us unique. “I am very excited to be part of this cultural beauty pageant as it will be a learning experience for me and, hopefully, a tool for empowerment.
“I joined Miss Culture Lesotho with the aim to win and become a queen.
I would like to be a better ambassador for my country, promoting Sesotho culture and identity as a nation and this is one of the best platforms to help me achieve that goal,” she added.
Nthabeleng comes from Tšakholo, in Mafeteng, and was born on March 21, 1999. She is also a professional model signed up with SothoKids Culture Agency, and is also in her maiden beauty pageant.
“I want to challenge myself, get some stage experience and hopefully inspire young women out there to know that one can enter a beauty pageant regardless of body size or shape. Again, I believe in the promotion of our culture.
“We are living in a modern world, not that it’s a bad thing but our culture is slowly dying and I think it is really important for us to know where we come from,” said Nthabeleng.
“It is my responsibility to help in uplifting my culture and to demonstrate pride about my roots. In this way our culture won’t fade and the next generation will also get to know about it. ”
Event coordinator, Aubrey Silinyana, told this paper that the Botha-Bothe community rallied strongly behind Paballo, and made a great contribution to her victory.
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