Mr Eugene Muhadi, the media manager of the Miss Nzhelele beauty pageant, is calling on social-media users to stop cyberbullying. This comes after some of the contestants of the Miss Nzhelele 2023 pageant became targets of cyberbullies.
On 1 July this year, the pageant organisers opened entries, and many young aspiring models from across the Nzhelele Valley optimistically submitted their applications. Members of the public were asked to select the top 40 contestants by reacting to each model's photo on Miss Nzhelele's Facebook page. However, things took a negative turn when cyberbullies started leaving rude comments and criticising some of the contestants.
In response, Muhadi issued a statement, pleading with social-media users to stop cyberbullying. He expressed disappointment that they still needed to combat cyberbullying in this day and age. He highlighted the distressing aspect of bullying towards children who saw Miss Nzhelele as an opportunity to reinvent themselves and improve their future and the community as a whole.
Muhadi emphasised that the Miss Nzhelele pageant embraces inclusivity and does not discriminate based on skin colour, skin type, body type, or any external beauty variations. While they value the public's opinion, he stressed that such bullying could have devastating consequences as young people may not know how to cope with it and could even resort to extreme measures such as suicide. He made clear that any form of bullying directed at participants would not be tolerated.
The crowning of Miss Nzhelele 2023 is scheduled to take place at the La'vero Lifestyle Lodge in Nzhelele Tshavhalovhedzi Sendedza on 22 December.