Emma Wareus' diamond of agony

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Thursday November 11, 2010 00:00

 

The diamond was donated by the Botswana government as Emma's national gift to the Miss World pageant, where it was supposed to be auctioned for charity by the Miss World.

The Botswana beauty queen waited desperately for weeks in China for the arrival of the diamond but unknown to her, the gemstone was being held in Johannesburg, South Africa by the couriers who wanted an extra $2,000 to ship it to Sanya. A senior Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture official told Mmegi yesterday they were alerted by the Botswana embassy in China that the $15,000(+-P105,000) diamond was stuck in South Africa and they quickly organised payment to the courier.  Deputy director in the Department of Youth and Culture Mogogi Kojane said that after payment of the extra $2,000, the gemstone, transported by the Diamond Trading Company (DTC) was dispatched to China where it arrived without a hitch. But after the gemstone reached Sanya, China, reports say that Wareus endured more agony when she could not get the diamond because of an alleged mix-up in labeling. The passport number on the label did not match that of Wareus.

The number on the label was that of Tshepo Wareus, the beauty queen's mother. At this stage Emma was the only contestant in the Miss World beauty pageant, who had not presented her national gift to the organisers. To make matters worse, the Chinese security authorities threatened to return the gemstone back to sender.

Fortunately, Emma's mother arrived in China the same day that the mix-up was discovered and her tearful daughter called her from her hotel room for help.

'I had to come rushing from my hotel room to the scene after Emma phoned crying that they were about to send the diamond back to Botswana because her passport number did not correspond with that on the package,' Tshepo Wareus told Mmegi.

'I was shocked that the organisation that sent the diamond could have committed that error. How did it happen that they confused my ID number for Emma's!' Fortunately, the matter was resolved after the mother produced her passport. The mother said that before she left for China, her distressed daughter had been calling about the diamond. Tshepo Wareus blames the Miss Botswana licence holders, the Botswana Council of Women (BCW) for the mix-up. However newly appointed BCW president Lebelelang Maswabi denied that they are at fault, saying they do not handle diamonds. 'You should go and ask Tshepo who exactly transported that diamond. I do not want to say more. I will respond later,' she said. 

Meanwhile Kojane said the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture is not aware of any mix-up in the labeling of the diamond though they knew that there was some confusion as to whether the gift should have been sent to Emma or to the Miss World pageant.