Miss Grand Zimbabwe

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 and the license was later purchased by Culvin Mavunga in 2016 but no representative was sent that year.[6]

Miss Grand Zimbabwe
Formation2013
TypeBeauty pageant
HeadquartersBulawayo
Location
Membership
Miss Grand International
Official language
English
National director
Chris Vukani Mhlanga

Zimbabwe only participated in the Miss Grand International pageant in 2013 and 2014,[7][8] one of them, Samantha Thsuma Miss Grand Zimbabwe 2013, was named the final-20.[7] After that, another national pageant winner, Miss Zimbabwe Grand, was expected to participate but withdrew.[9][10]

Background

History

In addition to Thailand, Zimbabwe is one of the other 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 direction 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 modeling agencies.[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]

In 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][11] 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][12][13]

Lillie Chopamba was the last Zimbabwe candidate at Miss Grand International, although 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.[14][15]

Edition

Miss Grand Zimbabwe was held as a stand-alone pageant only once in 2013, as detailed below.

Year Edition Date Final venue Entrants Result Ref.
Winner1st runner-up2nd runner-up
2013 1st July 13 Gardens Restaurant, Bulawayo 16 Fungai Mawada
(Bulawayo)		 Nothando Ncube
(Matabeleland South)		 Grace Ncube
(Matabeleland North)		 [3][16]

International competition

The following is a list of Zimbabwe representatives at the Miss Grand International contest.

YearRepresentativeOriginal national titleInternational resultNational director
PlacementOther awards
2013 Fungai Mawada[3]Miss Grand Zimbabwe 2013[3]Dethroned[1][2] Samantha Thsuma[1][2]
Samantha Thsuma[1][2]Miss Zimbabwe 2010[1][2]Top 20[7]—
2014 Marble Nyathi[4][5]—Dethroned[4][5] Chris Vukani Mhlanga[4][5]
Lillie Chopamba[4][5]—Unplaced[8]—
2016 Dion Cooper[6]Miss Grand Zimbabwe 2016[6]Dethroned[6] Culvin Mavunga[6]
2020 Kimberly Mayoyo[10]Miss Zimbabwe Grand 2020[10]The organizer did not hold the license of Miss Grand International for Zimbabwe.
2022 Scholastica Makoni[9]Miss Zimbabwe Grand 2021[9]
Color keys for the Placements at Miss Grand International
  Declared as the winner
  Ended as a runner-up (Top 5)
  Ended as a finalist (Top 10)
  Ended as a semifinalist (Top 20/21)

References
  1. "Organiser nominates self for inaugural Miss Grand International Zim Pageant". The Chronicle. September 3, 2013. Archived from the original on April 24, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  2. "Former Miss Tourism Samantha Tshuma Pulls Another Fast One". 3-mob.com. September 4, 2013. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  3. "Mawada crowned Miss Grand International Zimbabwe". Southerneye.co.zw. July 16, 2013. Archived from the original on July 19, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  4. "Miss Grand Zim unveils New Rep". NewsDay. August 10, 2014. Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  5. "Lillie Chipamba for Miss Grand International". Southerneye.co.zw. August 8, 2014. Archived from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  6. Winstone Antonio (March 9, 2016). "Model opts out of international pageant". NewsDay. Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  7. Harry Rodríguez (November 18, 2013). "Janelee Chaparro se corona Miss Grand International 2013". www.metro.pr (in Spanish). Archived from the original on May 8, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  8. Arvin Ello (October 6, 2014). "Miss Cuba is Miss Grand International 2014". www.vintersections.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  9. "Miss Zimbabwe Grand 2021 Crowned". The Chronicle. December 15, 2021. Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  10. Mthabisi Tshuma (September 24, 2020). "Miss Zim Grand Queen out to empower upcoming models". The Chronicle. Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  11. "Lillie Chipamba for Miss Grand International". NewsDay. August 8, 2014. Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  12. "Scandal rocks Miss Grand Zimbabwe beauty pageant". NewsDay. July 27, 2014. Archived from the original on August 10, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  13. "Zimbabwe: Beauty Says Dropped From Pageant After Spurning Love Proposal". AllAfrica. August 6, 2014. Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  14. Mthabisi Tshuma (June 15, 2021). "Search for Miss Zimbabwe Grand 2021 begins". The Chronicle. Archived from the original on June 19, 2021.
  15. "Every dream is valid: Marere". The Independent. July 30, 2021. Archived from the original on July 31, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  16. "Mawanda crowned first Miss Grand". The Chronicle. July 17, 2013. Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
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