This has prompted the show's organisers to look for a beautiful ambassador who will help them to promote the knowledge of Setswana culture, and heritage as well as preservation. In an interview with the show's director, Kelemogile Ramasu, he said the auditions are scheduled to be held on February 15 at FineThirty 8 in Gaborone.
The grand finale will be held at the Grand Palm Resort and Hotel on August 29 this year. "Our pageant is different as it is inclined towards promoting heritage and the essence of solving modern challenges through practices that have proven sustainable by our fore fathers. We take our footsteps back to self reliance and sustainable development by embracing and applying cultural/indigenous practices in modern day society. It is also a reality TV show segmented in 20 episodes. Each episode goes for 24 minutes and will be broadcasted on television pre recorded. Our TV host is MC Tills while our judges are Lefika Tladi, a former finalist from Miss Botswana, Tidimalo Tepo, a former queen and a TV personality and Joseph Tumelo, a businessman and musician," he said. He further explained that they would love people, more especially the youth, to know the importance of culture, arts, heritage, legends and history.
He added that the queen would be a vehicle to drive all of those. Ramasu also pointed out that they have 40 aspiring women who will be auditioned.
They are said to come from as far as Karakubis, Xaxaba Island, Khakhea, Khudumelapye, Xere and other places in Botswana. He further stated that they were looking for women between the ages 18 and 27 and that they should be able to express themselves in Setswana or English. He added that they were also allowed to speak their ethnic languages. Ramasu said they are expecting to see originality, love and zest for culture as well as the ability for self expression from the contestants. The winner will walk away with a fully paid scholarship from Gaborone University College of Law and Professional Studies (GUC), small livestock, smartphone from Hoco, make-up kit and services and a chance to be a presenter of Miss Bagaka Ba Pele TV show (Season 2). Ramasu added that they plan to run the pageant/reality TV show annually. He also said they intend to host a sponsorship launch after the auditions.
He said they currently have GUC ,Tee Pee Transport, Bagaka Ba Pele TV show and Hoco as sponsors. "Funding is the main challenge that is faced by beauty pageant organisers. By empowering women, we are empowering the nation. We expect to see women who are knowledgeable about their culture and heritage. There will be workshops to empower the women and enrich them with soft skills. There will be a boot camp where the women will be empowered with traditional culinary skills, self defence skills, and auto mechanics skills, " he said.
Ramasu added that they are going to infuse indigenous knowledge in the boot camps. He explained that there will be trips around the country to see national monuments and museums. He added that the ladies would be taught how to use traditional cosmetics like letsoku and others. During the grand finale, he emphasised that they are going to stick to traditional music items.
