Beauty pageant to uplift community

KEMPTON Park Pageants will host its first beauty pageant on October 9 at Kempton Park Civic Centre but entries are open from March for girls aged six to 18 to enter.

Kempton Park Pageants was formed in September last year with the intention to inspire young girls. Former beauty queen and founder of the organisation, Josinah Bapela (20), said pageants were a great platform to work with young women on an on-going basis.

“We aim to make young girls realise the importance of staying true to who they are as well as the power that lies in being unique. This is also a platform to groom young girls, empower and inspire them to pursue their dreams,” she said.

Bapela said she wanted to use the organisation to help girls find their true identity, realise and appreciate their beauty and go after their dreams.

Kempton Park Pageants have five members, who are all the first fruits of the born-free generation that will turn 21 this year.

“We are from Bonaero Park, Rhodesfield, Esther Park and Impala Park and we were all born in 1994,” said Bapela.

Bapela said the upcoming pageant was more of a community project although it was centred around young girls.

“Ward councillor Jaco Terblanche supports the pageant and has initiated visits to schools which will take place through the course of the year. We are very passionate about uplifting our community, which is why we have contacted various youth development businesses to be involved,” she added.

The different categories for the pageant are Miss Mini Kempton Park (6-9 years), Miss Pre-Teen Kempton Park (10-13 years) and Miss Teen Kempton Park (14-18 years).

Judging will be an on-going process starting on July 4, and Bapela added that between the starting date and the final event, finalists per category would be narrowed down.

“Twelve finalists will be chosen for Miss Mini Kempton Park, 14 for Miss Pre-Teen Kempton Park and Miss Teen Kempton Park will consist of 16 finalists,” she said.

The judging process will include a boot camp where contestants will be judged on fitness. An interview round will take place on the same day.

They will further be judged on their performance, charisma as well their involvement in the projects that will be given to them throughout the journey leading up to the main event.

“The reason we have set the entry opening date as March 1 is because of the empowering programme we want to hold. The pageant is developed to empower and inspire young girls and we can only do this by getting to know them and working with them over time,” she explained.

From March contestants can email kemptonparkpageants@gmail.com for any enquiries or entry forms.