Five months after her Miss Teen Botswana 2022 crown was ruthlessly snatched away and handed to her runner up, Palesa Motsewetsho is back with a brand new sash.
The 16-year-old is the first-ever Miss Teen Universe Botswana and will represent the country in Columbia at the teen version of Miss Universe this November.
In a quick interview with Voice Entertainment, the pageant’s National Director, Tshepo Tlhapi revealed they only acquired their licence earlier this year and so were pushed for time to put together a proper competition.
“We didn’t have much time to audition girls in order to identify our first Queen, so we identified an already existing beauty queen whose principles and ideals were in line with ours,” explained Tlhapi.
Motsewetsho was crowned Miss Teen Botswana in August last year.
However, out of the blue, in April the organisation announced her immediate dethronement on the grounds, “She no longer aligned with their vision, mission and objectives.”
Unwilling to comment on the young beauty’s checkered past, Tlhapi maintained Motsewetsho was everything they were looking for in a queen.
“We were looking for a hardworking, committed and disciplined queen and she came out top of the list. We are very confident that she has all it takes to bring home the crown!” said Tlhapi.
Motsewetsho continues with her project ‘Palesa’s caring sisterhood’, an initiative aimed at improving the lives of underprivileged children.
In a recent online interaction with the reigning Miss Teen Universe 2022/23, Colombia’s Luisa Maria Laverde, the Mmankgodi native said her project would also focused on “making sure that female voices are heard and seen.
“I am really excited about going to Columbia, mostly about meeting other contestants to bond and make memories,” she said.
Motsewetsho will officially be crowned Miss Teen Universe Botswana on 30 September, with the venue still to be confirmed.
