Company bosses and sponsors decide who becomes Mrs SA

The potential for conflicts of interest in the selection of Mrs South Africa's winners has come under scrutiny.

This after Joani Jacobs, CEO and main shareholder of Mrs South Africa and national director of Miss Supranational South Africa, admitted that company directors, shareholders and sponsors can sit on judging panels.

The questions deepen because the firm described as the pageant's independent auditor is also one of its sponsors.

Jacobs defended the arrangements after Africa Daily questioned how the pageants could guarantee independent judging when people with financial and commercial interests in the business could help select the winners.

The pageants' rules describe the body responsible for selecting winners as an "Independent Selection Committee".

However, published reports of the Mrs South Africa finales show that board chairperson Matapa Maila was the principal judge in November 2024 and November 2025.

Company director Jacqueline Ferns also served as a judge, while Nivi Grogor, founder of headline sponsor iME, sat on the judging panel in 2025.

Jacobs confirmed that directors and shareholders could serve as judges.

"Some judges may be shareholders or non-executive directors. Like any company, our non-executive directors serve in a governance and oversight capacity only. They are not involved in the company's daily operations, the management of the programme or the contestants' day-to-day journey.

"They do not train, coach or manage the contestants. Their position on the board does not prevent them from exercising independent judgement as one member of a broader judging panel," Jacobs said.

She also defended allowing sponsors to participate in selecting winners.

"The same applies to suitably qualified representatives of our sponsors. They do not manage or work with the contestants throughout the programme, and their commercial association with the organisation does not give them control over the judging process. Every judge scores independently, no individual judge determines the outcome, and the results are independently audited," she said.

But questions also arise over the independence of the auditing process.

The Mrs South Africa rules identify PKF Octagon as the pageant's "independent auditors", while the Miss Supranational South Africa rules name PKF Johannesburg.

PKF Octagon is also listed among the official sponsors on the Mrs South Africa website.

Jacobs said the firm's commercial relationship with the pageant did not compromise its auditing role.

"PKF provides independent auditing services and sponsors those professional services, which is why it is acknowledged as a sponsor. Its sponsorship does not remove its professional obligations or independence as an auditor," she explained.

Africa Daily asked PKF whether it receives payment for overseeing the judging process and whether it checks judges for potential conflicts of interest.

The firm did not respond to the questions.

Executive assistant Fiona Kruger initially said managing partner Waldek Wasowicz was attending a conference abroad and that another partner would respond on Monday.

On Monday morning, however, she wrote: "Regrettably, we will not be able to provide a response within the extended deadline."

Jacobs maintained that there was nothing inappropriate about the organisation's leadership participating in the selection of its winners.

"It is also entirely legitimate for the organisation's leadership to participate in selecting the woman who will ultimately represent its brand. We carry the responsibility for that representative during her reign and, where applicable, on the international stage.

"It is therefore both reasonable and appropriate that people who understand the organisation's values, responsibilities and international requirements form part of a diverse professional judging panel," she said.

She added: "No person who has served on our judging panel has been related to me."

The arrangements also leave contestants with limited visibility over how the final decisions are reached.

Contestants are not given access to their individual judging scores and have no right of appeal.

Jacobs defended keeping the scores confidential.

"Transparency does not mean that individual judges' scores must be published after the competition. Those scores remain confidential, as provided for in our terms and conditions. This protects the integrity of the judging process, the privacy of the contestants and the independence of each judge's professional assessment," she said.

The Mrs South Africa 2026 winner is due to be crowned on Friday, 13 November.

Africa Daily asked Jacobs whether any company director would serve as a judge this year and requested the names of the judging panel.

She did not disclose the judges or say whether any director would participate.