Claims Of Rigged Votes In Favour Of Miss SA Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters Surface

Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters who hails from the Western Cape was crowned Miss SA 2017 in March. It has been reported that 15 semi-finalists and finalists believe the competition was rigged in Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters’ favour. Six finalists revealed that Demi-Leigh had a grooming expert, personal trainer, sponsored make-up lessons and was given preferential treatment during charity visits.

They further claimed that she had a close relationship with some of the judges, and officials affiliated with Sun International. Some of the girls claimed that Werner Wessels, who is allegedly a “Sun International-affiliated” trainer, groomed Demi-Leigh to win

Claudia, who was also one of the judges on the night, is adamant the pageant was not rigged. Claudia told Jacaranda FM that they were surprised by tabloid reports that the pageant was a farce.

Claudia also said Werner, who has also trained the competitions previous four winners, Ntandoyenkosi Kunene, Liesl Laurie, Melinda Bam and Rolene Strauss, is an independent coach.

She added that none of the girls are discouraged from getting coaches.

“For me to read an article like this is quite disheartening, because this year we specifically went out there and gave these girls a great opportunity… Demi-Leigh is a great ambassador and she deserves the crown and we need to understand how she must be feeling as a result of these allegations,” she told

Claudia added that she did not discuss her scorecards on the night with anyway of the judges.

“Maps Maponyane, Unathi Msengana, Gizelle and Cameron van der Berg and I never saw each other’s scoring.”