Tiffany Simelane (1988 – August 17, 2009) was a Swazi model and beauty pageant titleholder who represented

Swaziland Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where ...

Miss World 2008 Miss World 2008 was the 58th edition of the Miss World pageant, held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 13 December 2008. Zhang Zilin of China crowned Ksenia Sukhinova of Russia as her successor at the end of t ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Her reign began on July 26, 2008, and ended August 17, 2009 when she died by suicide.

Miss Swaziland

After being crowned Miss Swaziland, she complained to her friend that as soon as she won she was told she would have to pay all her expenses herself, including the cost of her dress, to travel to the Miss World pageant. This was a great sticking point between her and the contest sponsors and organizers. The organizers reported their own disappointments with Simelane, disclosing that she would "disappear without a trace", causing more controversy. In an interview with the ''

Times of Swaziland The ''Times of Swaziland'' is a newspaper in Eswatini (formerly called Swaziland). It is the oldest newspaper in Eswatini, having been established in 1897 by Allister Mitchel Miller (1864–1951). References External links

* {{Media in Es ...

'' she thanked God that her reign was over, stating she thought she was "going crazy" and that the title had been nothing more than a liability to her. When she relinquished her crown at a ceremony in the Royal Swazi Convention Centre, she gave a cryptic speech, revealing that becoming Miss Swaziland had opened her eyes and that she had hoped to remove the cloud of controversy around the competition during her reign. She then claimed that the competition was not being run in the correct fashion, but that her conscience was clear.

Death

On August 17, 2009, Simelane died by

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

by ingesting weevil tablet, a pesticide that contains

aluminium phosphide Aluminium phosphide is a highly toxic inorganic compound with the chemical formula AlP, used as a wide band gap semiconductor and a fumigant. This colorless solid is generally sold as a grey-green-yellow powder due to the presence of impurities ...

and emits

phosphine Phosphine (IUPAC name: phosphane) is a colorless, flammable, highly toxic compound with the chemical formula , classed as a pnictogen hydride. Pure phosphine is odorless, but technical grade samples have a highly unpleasant odor like rotting ...

gas. She was rushed for treatment at the Mbabane Government Hospital. Friends reported that she killed herself over a "broken heart", facing depression and a lack of closeness with her family on top of the stress of being Miss Swaziland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simelane, Tiffany 1988 births 2009 suicides 2009 deaths Suicides by poison Suicides in Eswatini Miss World 2008 delegates Swazi beauty pageant winners