The hidden cost of being Miss Rally

SIDVOKODVO- Winning Miss Rally may look like a glamorous moment, but for the newly crowned titleholder, the crown quickly comes with a demanding two-day schedule.

With between six and seven contestants competing, Nyaphudi said she doubted her chances, particularly because she did not know how good the other contestants were. Her uncertainty deepened because she did not even know what the winner would receive. “I didn’t even know what the prize was,” she said.

The surprise, however, came with a blue bag containing a jacket, hair products, a shawl, E2 000, a cooler box, a headset and various charging cables.

But the real adjustment came after the title was announced.

Nyaphudi said she had travelled to Eswatini with friends specifically to have fun at the rally, only to discover that winning meant being separated from them for much of the event. “They told me tomorrow they would be taking me away from my friends,” she said.

Her friends, however, remained supportive, regularly checking on her through calls and messages.

The experience also presented a personal challenge for Nyaphudi, who said she was not naturally comfortable interacting with large numbers of people.

Coming from Lesotho, she also had to navigate a language barrier. Despite this, she said the rally forced her to interact with people and step outside her comfort zone. “I got to interact with a lot of people,” she said. “I managed.”

The demands placed on Miss Rally extend beyond the moment of winning.

The titleholder is expected to attend all the showcases taking place throughout the two-day event, meaning the winner cannot simply return to her friends and enjoy the rally like an ordinary spectator.

Instead, she becomes part of the spectacle.

From appearances and showcases to interacting with crowds, the winner’s time is effectively scheduled around the event.

For Nyaphudi, this meant that the title came with a trade-off: the excitement of winning was accompanied by less freedom to move around with the friends who had brought her to the rally. Yet, despite the demands, she said she was enjoying the experience.

“I’m enjoying so much,” she said.

The Swazi Rally’s approach to choosing its Miss Rally also differs from a conventional beauty pageant.

The winner is determined through crowd cheers and a public vote, with confidence also forming part of the selection.

Nyaphudi’s victory therefore depended not only on appearance but also on her ability to command attention, participate and confidently engage with the crowd.

The concept is not unique to Eswatini.

Other motorsport events have similarly incorporated female ambassadors or ‘rally queens’ into their programmes. In Italy, the 2026 Miss Rally del Matese competition describes its winner as the official face of the following edition, with the winner crowned before the rally crowd and given opportunities for photography and partnerships.

At Rally dei Laghi in Italy, the Miss Rally competition has been running for more than a decade, with the winner serving as the official representative of the rally during institutional and sporting activities.

Elsewhere, the role has taken on an even more motorsport-focused meaning. In Malawi, the Mzizima Motorsport Club introduced a ‘Rally Queen’ award for a female competitor who demonstrated impressive driving skills and recorded the best time.

A previous international Rally Queen competition linked a winner to the Africa Eco Race from Paris to Dakar, with the titleholder undergoing navigation and desert training before competing and travelling as an ambassador for women in motorsport.

The Swazi Rally version may be centred more on entertainment, confidence and crowd engagement, but Nyaphudi’s experience shows that the title is not simply a sash and a moment on stage.

For the woman wearing it, the crown can mean giving up part of the weekend she came to enjoy.