Reigning Miss South Africa, Lalela Mswane, who hails from KwaZulu-Natal, has been selected to represent South Africa at the 13th edition of the Miss Supranational competition, in Poland, in July.

The Miss South Africa organisation made the announcement yesterday through a press release and social media posts across all platforms.

Drum roll please 🥁….

We are excited to announce Miss South Africa 2021, @Lalela_lali will represent Mzansi at the 13th edition of @MissSupranatl 2022 this July in Poland! . 🇿🇦

Let’s support Lalela as she gets back on the international stage! #misssa2021 #misssupranational pic.twitter.com/94rhE9cKkO

— Miss South Africa (@Official_MissSA) February 15, 2022

However this announcement was immediately met with criticism from many social media users, who believed the organisation should have given preference to Miss SA runners up Moratwe Masima and Zimi Mabunzi.

CEO of Miss SA organisation, Stephanie Weil said that the choice to have the reigning queen partake in more than one international competition was not a new phenomenon.

“Other former Miss South Africa’s who represented South Africa at more than one international pageant include Joanne Strauss, Megan Coleman, Tansey Coetzee, Bokang Montjane, Marilyn Ramos and most recently Ntandoyenkosi Kunene,” said Weil.

Mswane was crowned 2nd runner up at the 70th Miss Universe pageant held in December, in Israel.