A well-known social media influencer, Perseverance Maremeni known to her fans as Madam Speaker took to social media to express her disappointment at the She Millionaire Awards held last week at the Meropa Casino in Polokwane. Perseverance said that she was nominated in the category of Content Creator of the Year award but her name did not appear on the nominee list on the day of the awards.
DENIED A NOMINATION
According to the She Millionaire website, the awards, founded by Mandy Segauke, aims to celebrate ambitious women entrepreneurs who are determined to create successful businesses and make a positive impact on the world. Perseverance said when her name was not called as a nominee, she inquired with the organisers and she was told that her PR manager had withdrawn her nomination on her behalf. However, Perseverance has now come forward to deny the claims and has accused the awards of being 'a big scam'. In a series of videos posted on social media, Perseverance said she wanted to expose the fraudulent behavior of the organisers and that she would provide evidence to support her claim. "I was nominated last year and the organisers said for me to stand a better chance of winning, I needed to buy a ticket and be at the event, I found that very strange and I pulled out. I was nominated again this year and my PR manager encouraged me to accept the nomination. But my name did not appear on the screen and someone told me later during the awards that if I needed to win, I could have just paid R5 000 to get the award, I was shocked," she said, adding that Segauke came to her and claimed that she was under the impression that she pulled out of the awards. "It is deeply concerning to see such dishonest behavior from the organisers of an esteemed awards ceremony. It is essential that those responsible for such scams are held accountable for their actions," she said in one video clip. She added: " I hope that the She Millionaire Awards organisers will take swift action to address this issue and ensure that such fraudulent practices are not repeated in the future. It is vital that the integrity of such awards ceremonies is maintained to protect the reputation of the industry and the hard-working individuals who contribute to it," she said.
ORDERED TO APOLOGISE
After the videos, Segauke's lawyers wrote to Perseverance and ordered her to apologise by Tuesday or face an R500 000 lawsuit. "The allegations you made and continue to make against our client were defamatory and were intended to degrade, embarrass, and humiliate our client and undermine her reputation and that of her organisation. The allegations are also to your knowledge false, as you have no shared of evidence to confirm such frivolous and vexatious allegations. That you cease and desist from making any further derogative and defamatory comments and statements about our client and her Organisations, to anyone or on any social media platform, including WhatsApp," the lawyers said in a letter to Perseverance. " In the event that you fail to comply with the aforesaid request, we hold instructions to institute legal proceedings against you without any further notice to cease and desist from making any further defamatory comments about our client; institute a claim for damages against you, in the sum of R500 000 for your defamatory statements. Seek legal costs against you on an attorney and client scale. Issue a public apology to our client on your social media platforms no later than the 21st of November 2023, before 16h00pm," After receiving the letter, Perseverance said she would never apologise to Segauke. "She will draw my sorry," she said.
