The TV Show Season 2 came to an end on Saturday night as the finale took place at Tlotlo Hotel and Conference Centre . Catch full story in The Voice newspaper

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Earlier in October, the unconventional Mrs. Botswana beauty pageant was marred by controversy and chaos as a group of aggrieved contestants petitioned the organizer to re-calculate the scores.

The controversial pageant made headlines when the hopefuls in an interview with The Voice called for independent auditors to be employed to oversee the whole process.

However, the event never materialized because the Chief Organizer, Kgalalelo Lesetedi said she was not pleased with the way the syndicate handled the whole matter in what she termed to be “ruining the brand’s name.”

Sitting in an interview with The Voice this week Lesetedi passionately recounted how she got to start Mrs. Botswana, which debuted in 2017.

“I saw it happening in other countries and I was like ‘Wow! We don’t have that in Botswana, what can a lady like me do? I’m married, so what more can I do?

I’m into the advocacy of happy and healthy marriages. It was a hard beginning, my husband even sold his car to fund my dream because I believed in this thing when no one did.”

In 2017, the crown landed on Keitumetse Motlhasedi and the 2018 crown was won by Keletso Linchwe both of whom went on to compete in China and the Philippines respectively.

Maureen Mathuba managed to snatch the crown this year.

“The first time I heard of Mrs. Botswana was when my sister told me she’s registered my name for the auditions. To me, it was a ‘Wow!’ experience. I have always wanted to be this beauty queen but there were no pageants catering for women with children and moreover, married. Finally there came someone who thought about giving us a chance to enjoy and acknowledge ourselves.”

Mathuba is currently conducting her project on Gender Based Violence and children’s protection.

It also strives to get boys and girls to accept and interact with each other without fear.

In response to the syndicate that pushed for the recalculation of the scores, Mathuba calmly stated, “This is a competition, I won the crown as any of them would have. If I had not, I would still say, this is a competition.’

The effortlessly beautiful woman will be leaving for Mrs.

Universe in China from the 21st December 2019 until the 1st of January 2020 and she promises to bring the crown home.

As the last lap into the final preparations of the much-anticipated Botswana International Music Conference (BIMC) gets underway, Copyrights Society of Botswana (COSBOTS) has joined the fray.

BIMC was first held in 2015 to expose local artists to the business side of the music industry.

It has continued to attract a big following over the last four years.

This year’s event has attracted 52 international speakers and delegates as well as 50 local speakers and delegates from various sectors of the music industry.

The man behind the event, veteran promoter and social media commentator Seabelo Modibe has said that international speakers are expected to share insights on Copyright Law and Royalty Management, a topic which has been causing a lot of confusion amongst local artists on how exactly COSBOTS works.

“As BIMC we believe that this Masterclass will help organizations prepare and stay ahead of the curve so that once licensing starts they are well equipped and tooled on Copyright and Royalty Management matters,” Modibe explained.

Next year COSBOTS will commence licensing rights such as reprographics followed by digital and online users of works such as mobile telephony, Over the Top Applications (YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram), streaming services and online broadcasters to name a few.

“BIMC and COSBOTS have found it fit to organize this particular Masterclass to make sure all users, copyrighted works administrators know their responsibilities as per the Copyright Act,” Modibe said.

The Masterclass will be held at the GICC for two days from November 27 -28th.

The speakers list comprises of Karabo Senna (RSA), John Max (Namibia), Adv. Nhlanhla Sibisi (RSA), Adv. Ntsietso Mokitimi Makhofola (RSA), Stephen Hollis, Mirrias Syamutondo (Zambia), Leemisa Molapisi (RSA) to name a few.

The music conference will also offer an opportunity for networking as it will host music distributors such as BET, MTV base, organisers of the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, Momix, The Imbizo, Moshito, locally celebrated Gaborone International Music and Culture week (GIMC), the Vic falls carnival just to mention but a few

@sharonmathala
sharonm@thevoicebw.com