Miss South Africa Wins 2nd Runner-up at Miss Universe After Defying Anti-Israel BDS Campaign

Joel B. PollakDecember 12, 2021

Miss South Africa Lalela Mswane finished second runner-up at the Miss Universe pageant on Sunday evening after defying calls by anti-Israel groups to boycott the competition, which was held in the Israeli resort town of Eilat, Israel.

South Africa: Choose courage over comfort in every opportunity they get.

Video courtesy of Miss Universe/Twitter#70thMissUniverse #MissUniverse2021

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— Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) December 13, 2021

Miss India Harnaaz Sandhu, an early favorite, took the top spot as Miss Universe, with Miss Paraguay as first runner-up.

The final three Miss Universe contestants (L to R) Miss Paraguay, Nadia Ferreira; Miss South Africa, Lalela Mswane; and Miss India, Harnaaz Sandhu pose on stage during the 70th Miss Universe beauty pageant in Israel’s southern Red Sea coastal city of Eilat on December 13, 2021. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Mswane said earlier that she had been “to hell and back” over her decision to compete in Israel, after anti-Israel groups in South Africa affiliated with the global “boycott, divestment, sanctions” (BDS) movement — which has been called antisemitic, for singling out Israel alone for criticism — put intense pressure on her to withdraw.

Even the South African government withdrew its support for her candidacy.

But Mswane stressed dialogue over conflict — a theme that played out on Sunday with the participation of several Arab countries in the competition, and the surprising first-ever visit of an Israeli prime minister to the United Arab Emirates.

Her strong finish in the competition vindicates her decision to compete — and puts the South African government in an awkward position: it cannot congratulate her for her success without noting that it did everything to stand in her way.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.