A pageant organiser and model who is accused of defrauding people out of their prize money and air tickets has been stripped of his titles.
Kaylib Mango was crowned Mr Western Province 2021 and Mr Universal SA 2022/2023.
According to the complainants, Kaylib held a pageant in Atlantis on 2 March where each participant had to pay R200 to enter.
Five titles were up for grabs: Miss, Mr, Mrs and Ms Gay Valentine’s Atlantis, but they say the winners never received their prize money.
After Daily Voice reported on the fraud allegations this week, Carolyn Botha, the CEO of Pageants SA, released a statement saying: “Pageants SA has been made aware of troubling allegations regarding the conduct of Kaylib Mango, allegedly involving fraudulent activities related to the recent pageant hosted by Pageants SA.
“It has come to our attention that several contestants and their families have reported instances of fraud, including false proof of payments and the purchase of one-way instead of return air tickets, leaving individuals stranded at airports. Pageants SA was unaware of these allegations until they were brought to our attention.
“Upon discovering these issues, Pageants SA immediately took action by instructing Kaylib Mango to return all excess fees charged to parents and to rectify any payments falsely made to suppliers.
“With great regret, Pageants SA announces the decision to distance ourselves from Kaylib Mango and to revoke his title of Mr Universal South Africa 2022/2023. The sash awarded to him has been collected by a trusted confidant and will be returned shortly.”
Botha added that neither Pageants SA nor their affiliate organisers OMT Pageants, by Simone Eichler, were aware of Kaylib’s alleged skelm streke.
Now Simone says they have stripped Kaylib of his 2022 crown.
“We are not affiliated with Mr Mango. Mr Mango was unfortunately crowned Mr Western Province 2021, but after many people started contacting us about his activities, we stripped him of his title and collected the sash and trophy he received from his workplace on 7 February 2022.”
When Daily Voice reached out to Kaylib for comment, the 26-year-old from Bellville asked that we hold off on publishing, as he was already in a state after the previous article had “cost him his entire career and well-being”.
Police spokesperson Anelisiwe Manyana confirmed that two cases of fraud are being investigated and that no arrests have been made as yet.