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MISS SD COMMITTEE MEMBER STEPS DOWN

01/07/2016 04:14:00 BY NONDUMISO MSIBI AND NHLANHLA MATHUNJWA

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MBABANE – Miss Swaziland Beauty Pageant’s committee member Mellisa Du-Pont has stepped down from the committee.

The stepping down comes after the Entertainment Desk revealed that one of the Miss Swaziland Beauty Pageant finalists was Du-Pont’s daughter.
Soon after the Top 10 finalists were announced, there was an outcry from the public as some of them, especially the followers of the pageant, felt it would not be fair to the other contestants as Du-Pont was a major player in the committee. Information gathered is that on Wednesday, the Pageant SD committee met and the matter was discussed at length.

It was during this meeting where Du-Pont took the decision to step down.
While the committee felt that Du-Pont had not done anything wrong, they decided for transparency; that she couldn’t be part of the committee as her daughter was part of the Top 10 finalists. Du-Pont volunteered to step down.
The Swaziland National Council of Arts and Culture (SNCAC) has been informed about Du-Pont’s decision which has also been accepted by the council.

First to be called by the Entertainment Desk was Stanley Dlamini, SNCAC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who referred all questions to Pageant SD’s media Spokesperson Gladys Rudd-Smith.
“It’s best that you talk to the Pageant SD committee as they have all the answers you want,” he said.

Rudd-Smith confirmed that Du-Pont had stepped down, saying this came after a fruitful meeting they had as a committee.
“I confirm that Mellisa is no longer part of the committee. We had a meeting as a committee where she personally volunteered to step down,” she said.
She said for transparency, they felt it was proper that they allow Du-Pont to step down.

“As a committee we had to allow her to step down. This was simply to make sure that the pageant continues without any problem,” she said. She mentioned that since Du-Pont had stepped down, there was no reason for her daughter not to take part in the finals.
“Mellisa’s daughter will continue to be part of the finalists. We are trying to make sure that the pageant becomes successful and we urge the public to continue supporting us,” she said.