It appears that the current recession has affected the Tropiks as well. The national Clover Miss Tropika Island Babe contest was reduced to a single regional pageant in the Eastern Cape in 2009/2010. The winner was Princess Mehlomane. Her runners-up were Amy Bussey and Louise Coetzer.If memory serves me correctly, the Miss Tropika concept originated in the Eastern Cape in the late 90's and was later expanded into a national series. There was talk that the Miss Tropika pageant would rival the Miss SA pageant in terms of prestige and prize package, but given the latest development I strongly doubt that will ever happen.