Miss Grand Zimbabwe was a Zimbabwean female national beauty pageant founded in 2013 by former Miss Zimbabwe Samantha Tshuma.[1][2][3] The contest's winners represent the country at the Miss Grand International pageant.[1][2][3] In 2014, Tshuma relinquished her post as director for her partner, Chris Vukani Mhlanga.[4][5] After two consecutive years of scandal, the partnership with Miss Grand International was terminated the following year[6] and the license was later purchased by Culvin Mavunga in 2016 but no representative was sent that year.[7]
Zimbabwe only participated in the Miss Grand International pageant in 2013 and 2014,[8][9] and its 2013 representative, Samantha Thsuma, was named the final-20.[8] After that, another national pageant winner, Miss Zimbabwe Grand, was expected to participate but withdrew.[10][11]
History
In addition to Thailand, Zimbabwe is one of the few countries that separately held its Miss Grand national contest to select the representative for Miss Grand International in 2013. This inaugural edition of Miss Grand Zimbabwe was organized at the Gardens Restaurant in the city of Bulawayo under the directorship of former Miss Zimbabwe 2010, Samantha Tshuma, and a 22-years-old model representing Bulawayo, Fungai Mawada, was announced the winner at a contest held on July 13, outclassing 15 other finalists.[1][2][3]
Nevertheless, Mawada was later disqualified on September 2 by the director Samantha Tshuma, who nominated herself as the country representative at such an international contest and additionally stated that all 16 participating models were not suitable for the international competition,[1][2] causing her to receive negative opinions from several regional licensees.[1] Tshuma was placed as the Top 20 finalist in the swimsuit competition at the Miss Grand International 2013 pageant, which was held in Thailand on November 19.[4]
The following year, the Miss Grand Zimbabwe organization was also embroiled in a similar scandal when the new franchise holder, Chris Vukani Mhlanga, who was the partner of a former 2013 national licensee, unveiled a new country representative, Lillie Chopamba, to replace Marble Nyathi, one of the finalists who had been nominated from Bulawayo to represent the country at the Miss Grand International 2014 in Bangkok.[4][5][12] Mhlanga claimed Nyathi's body was not good enough for the international pageant; however, Nyathi argued that she was removed because she refused Mhlanga's love proposal as well as some financial issues between her and the organizer.[4][5][13][14] Zimbabwe was then absent from the Miss Grand International from 2015 to 2024, although there was the other national pageant with a similar name, Miss Zimbabwe Grand, has been held annually since 2019 to determine the winners for several international platforms, but has no affiliation with Miss Grand International.[15][16]
After a 10-year hiatus, Zimbabwe is expected to make a return in 2025 under the directorship of Ntombi Gumede and her daughter, Tumi Jiane.[6][17]
Editions
The Miss Grand Zimbabwe pageant was held as a stand-alone contest only once, that is, in 2013.
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