Nokuthula must clarify use of miss Deaf monies

MBABANE-Despite having resigned a few weeks ago, the Miss Deaf Beauty Pageant continues to haunt Nokuthula Mbatha.

The former license holder is to be called upon to explain not giving the queen a share of some of the monies which were donated by different organisations.
This transpired during an investigation which was launched by the Swaziland National Association of the Deaf (SNAD) to determine some of the causes of the many problems of the pageant.

The investigation was also to find the truth on why the queen dropped out of school.
At a meeting held on Wednesday at the Swaziland National Council of Arts and Culture (SNCAC) offices, the Deaf Youth Committee reported to the SNCAC that Mbatha has not been faithful to the queen.

Donated

One of the allegations reported was that Mbatha used to take the queen to different churches, including the Mbabane Alliance Church, where money was donated to her but she never got it.
 “The beauty queen made it known that the Alliance Church leader Reverend Mazibuko gave her E5 000 but she never got the money.

She also alleged that on many occasions, Mbatha used to tell her that she was going to purchase clothes for the queen with the money something which never happened so we decided to launch an investigation,” one of the members said.  A recommendation made by SNAD is to the effect that the SNCAC should not only investigate the issue but should also ensure Mbatha revealed all the companies that committed funding to the pageant.

Investigate

“Arts and Culture should investigate the project and ensure that all sponsors who committed funding be listed in the media,” reads part of the report.  Tony Dlamini, who spoke for the Swaziland Beauty Pageants Association (SBPA), confirmed the issue.

Mbatha could not be reached for comment as her phone was not available on the network for the better part of yesterday.

DPM told to stay out of Deaf Cultural issues

MBABANE-SNAD has requested the Arts and Culture office to make sure that the Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku stays out of the Deaf community’s cultural issues.

Ever since the pageant started, the DPM has been supporting it.
Recently, the DPM registered his disappointment at the news that Mbatha had resigned as he felt that she had a passion to work with people with disabilities.  In his response, the DPM clarified and said that he has never been involved in any decisions regarding the Deaf cultural issues but that his office always supports people with disabilities.

“I have never been involved. The Ministry of Culture comes to us to give us reports on Deaf cultural issues because my office plays a leading role in the policy of people with disabilities. Cultural issues belong to the Ministry of Culture,” he said. He mentioned that during the Miss Deaf pageant last year, he attended because he wanted to see if his ‘deaf children’ were well taken care off.

“It is the duty of my office to support people with disabilities but I do not plan or organise anything for the deaf cultural events,” he emphasised. Chairperson of the SNAD Youth Committee Fanelo Zikhali confirmed that they did not want the DPM to be involved. “The DPM must not be included in the issues because this taints his image yet he has never been involved,” Zikhali said

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