Miss South Africa Contestant Pulls Out of Pageant Amidst Nationality Controversy
Chidimma Vanessa Adetshina, who had received heightened attention in the weeks since she was announced as a finalist, cited her family’s safety as the reason for her decision to withdraw from the pageant.
Ahead of Saturday’s Miss South Africa finals at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, a finalist in the beauty contest has pulled out. 23-year-old Chidimma Vanessa Adetshinaannounced her decision to withdraw from the contest, “for the safety and wellbeing of my family and I.”
“With the support of the Miss South Africa organization, I leave with a heart full of gratitude for this amazing experience,” she added.
Over the last few weeks, Adetshina has been at the center of heightened social media attention due to questions about her nationality. In interviews, she has said that her father is Nigerian, her mother is a naturalized South African of Mozambican descent, and she was born in South Africa, which would make her eligible to contest in the Miss South Africa beauty pageant.
However, many South Africans on social media have called for a probe into her nationality. After initially backing Adetshina, organizers of the pageant requested an official inquiry into the former contestant’s citizenship. In a statement shared to X on Monday, Home Affairs minister Leon Schreiber said the department is “working to verify and compile the required information.”
From local media reports earlier today, the Department of Home Affairs said it has found prima facie evidence of fraud and identity theft that may have been committed by Adetsina’s mother.
“From the information we have uncovered thus far, the Department of Home Affairs can indicate that prima facie reasons exist to believe that fraud and identity theft may have been committed by the person recorded in Home Affairs records as Chidimma Adetshina's mother,” a statement signed by Schreiber says, adding that an innocent South African may have suffered as a result of the alleged theft. “Adetshina herself could not have participated in the alleged unlawful actions of her mother as she was an infant at the time the activities took place in 2001,” the statement added.
In her statement, Adetshina did not address the allegations.
The Miss South Africa organization, in its statement on the withdrawal, said it wishes “Chidimma all of the very best and success in all her [endeavors].” It added: “Miss South Africa celebrates South Africa’s rich and inclusive culture and diversity. We uphold the spirit of Ubuntu-Botho and are committed to contributing to the self-belief, self-confidence, and [fulfillment] of the aspirations of all girls and women in Africa and worldwide.”
Speaking to Eyewitness News, South African immigration lawyer Stefanie De Saude says that it’s the law, not the home office, that can determine Adetshina’s citizenship. “In a case like this, where you are born to a South African, Home Affairs doesn’t have any discretion,” Saude says. “The law says you are a South African. And questioning her status is not only discrimination and violates principles of equality and human dignity, but it also disregards legal principles. It’s saying that we don’t care what the law says, this is what we say, and we think that we are right.”
For some observers, Adetshina’s withdrawal and the online vitriol stemming from her participation in the Miss South Africa contest plays into xenophobia and Afrophobia. “Heartbreaking that Chidimma Adetshina has been effectively forced out of the Miss SA competition. It was the right call with the growing threats to her and her family. But what a completely non-compassionate society we've shown ourselves to be,” South African journalist Verashni Pillay wrote in an X post.