Twenty organisations are expected to gather in Sandton on Friday afternoon to call for a boycott of this year’s Miss Universe beauty pageant, which will be hosted in Israel next month.

The protest is supported by, among others the African National Congress, Economic Freedom Fighters, National Freedom Party, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the Congress of South African Students, the Embassy of Palestine and the Royal House of Mandela at Mvezo.

Twenty-four-year-old, Lalela Mswane was crowned Miss South Africa 2021 in Cape Town last month and is this year’s representative for Miss Universe.

Last week, government withdrew its support for Mswane after the organisers of the Miss SA pageant said they will not pull out of the competition.

The protest organisers, Africa 4 Palestine says Israel is an apartheid state and they want the Miss South Africa Organisation to boycott the event.

In a statement released a week ago, Miss South Africa organisers said that a very small but extremely vocal group was attempting to, and failed to derail Mswane’s chances at the prestigious international pageant.

SAJBD reacts to government’s decision to withdraw its Miss SA pageant support: