13 Sep 2017

It was all beauty and grace at this years’ Miss RADP for Kgalagadi region, held on Saturday night.

However, not all pageants wrapped up so elegantly.

The show started a bit late, but the contestants made sure they shone throughout the entire night to create a gleaming delightful night.

The contestants were strikingly beautiful, as they made their first parade in black t-shirts with black skinny jeans that fits their well-crafted bodies, which they rocked the with stilettos.

The 16 contestants hooked the audience with their marvelous parade, as they rocked those stilettos with much confidence, while for some it was obvious to the lame man’s eye that, stilettos were not their thing, as they walked at a snail pace to save themselves the embarrassment of the booing crowd.

As the clock was ticking, the beauties raised the bar on their performances, as they came clad in traditional attires, mainly matlalo while others added a bit of leteisi attire made in different breath taking designs.

They paraded proudly, as they showcased some of the Setswana chores and Basarwa cultural activities such as beadwork, making fire and some of their traditional dance moves.

The third parade was graced with hot pants while the last parade was the one that raised heart beats as they paraded in exquisite evening dresses with stunning stilettos.

It was all glitz and glamour, as the contestants stole the show with their dresses and audience was left perplexed, as they could not hide their excitement.

They were lhowever eft with a tough task of choosing the best dress for the show.

Meanwhile, acting deputy district commissioner for Hukuntsi Sub-district Council, Peggy Kutlase said the competition started in  2013 as an affirmative action initiative geared towards bringing services closer to the people who were disadvantaged.

She said since its inception, the initiative is bearing fruits, as there is increased participation and the initiative will be on its fifth year and still going strong.

Kutlase said in Kgalagadi area they have 10 settlements that participate to showcase talents and beauty.

She said the winners would compete against other participants from 70 RADP villages during the upcoming nationals to be held in Gaborone.

Kutlase further said  during this year, only eight settlements were represented from Kokotsha, Khawa, Inalegolo, Zutshwa, Ncaang, Maake, Ukhwi and Monong.

She encouraged them to be ambassadors of their villages and Kgalagadi as a whole to show the entire world that they have far-fetched talents as well.

Moreover, she encouraged them to tackle issues that mostly affect their communities being, poor family planning, teenage pregnancy, and alcohol abuse to build well established communities.

Giving the objective of the pageant, Hukuntsi Sub-district senior assistant council secretary, Joseph Banyatsang, said the affirmative action initiative is meant to promote inclusion of young women from RADP settlements into mainstream society so as to enhance their self-esteem and facilitate participation in national events.

Earlier in his welcome remarks, Kgosi Molaodi Leipego, encouraged the contestants and other fellow young women from RADP settlements to take the pageant seriously to promote and brand RADP settlements.

One of the judges, Tefo Mokone said judges’ focused on ranking the physical attributes of the contestant’s as well as to appreciate whether they were confident enough to incorporate personality, intelligence to respond to the asked questions.

In his closing remarks, Kgalagadi District Council chairperson, Justice Nkwane lauded all the contestants despite a win or a loss since it takes courage to enter the competition.

He encouraged the winners to work hard so that they can give other contestants from the 70 RADP’s settlement fierce competition at the nationals.

Nkwane also encouraged all those who did not make it, not to despair but to go back and work on their weaknesses for better competition in the next coming years.

After a tough battle of the 16 beauties, Keotshephile Kodume from Kokotsha beat out dozens of other beauty contestants and was crowned Miss RADP Kgalagadi 2017 and bagged P2000 cash while her second runner up was Pholoso Molefele from Maake and got a cash prize of P1500 while Keitiretse Osenoleng from Khawa was crowned the second princesses and got P1000 cash prize. Ends