The Miss South Africa beauty pageant has been hit by a xenophobic row after an aggressive campaign called for a finalist to be removed from the competition because of her mixed race.
Chidimma Adetshina, a 23-year-old law student and model, is one of the ten finalists in the competition. The winner will be announced on Saturday.
But since Adetshina was announced as a finalist in July, she has been lambasted on social media, with Miss South Africa and the government urging her to ban her from competing.
The beautiful model was born in South Africa, but has mixed ancestry: her father is Nigerian, while her mother is of Mozambican descent.
Miss South Africa had previously stated that she may participate if she is in possession of a valid ID and passport. In addition, the country grants citizenship by birth to anyone born in the country after 1995.
Chidimma Adetshina, 23, has faced calls to remove her from the Miss South Africa pageant over her mixed race
Adetshina said it was disappointing to see so much “black-on-black hate” in the reactions to her performance at the competition, telling local media: “You try so hard to represent your country and wear it with so much pride, but all these people don’t support you.”
There were angry rumors that Adetshina would not be eligible to participate in the competition. She was said to be Nigerian and not South African.
Images circulated on social media showing her alongside others in traditional Nigerian dress, only worsening the abuse.
Fuel was added to the fire after an investigation by the Department of Home Affairs found “prima facie evidence” that Adetshina’s mother may have stolen the identity of a South African woman after she was born.
Interior Minister Leon Schreiber said: ‘There are reasons to believe that fraud and identity theft were committed by the person listed in the Interior Office records as the mother of Chidimma Adetshina.
‘An innocent South African mother, whose identity may have been stolen as part of the alleged fraud committed by Adetshina’s mother, suffered as she was unable to register her child.’
Today, South Africa is known as the ‘Rainbow Nation’, but even after apartheid, xenophobia still prevails.
The abuse is mainly directed at people from Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Somalia, who are used as scapegoats to ‘steal jobs’ and are responsible for high drug use and crime.
The stunning model was born and raised in South Africa. Her father is Nigerian, while her mother is of Mozambican descent.
Adetshina is one of the ten finalists, the winner of the competition will be announced on Saturday
It has led to the rise of xenophobic movements and political parties, including the far-right Patriotic Alliance led by Gayton McKenzie, which won two percent of the vote in the May elections.
McKenzie, who is also the Minister of Culture, wrote on Twitter last week: “We really can’t have Nigerians participating in our Miss SA competition. I want to know all the facts before I comment but it’s already a funny feeling.
‘When you offer to represent South Africans, you willingly expose yourself to criticism.
‘South Africans should not be ashamed and blamed just because they ask the lady who wants to represent them as Miss South Africa the necessary questions.’
But Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, stood up for her during a podcast interview.
He said: ‘We cannot punish people based on where their parents are from… Your nationality is determined by where you were born, so if she was born here, she is South African.’
“It doesn’t matter. She’s not her parents, she’s herself. So why do you say she’s from Nigeria or Mozambique? She was born here.”
Adetshina, who is also a netball player and law student, has been harassed with insults on social media
Adetshina indicated in her participation video that her parents are not from South Africa, which sparked a discussion about her eligibility.
Born and raised in Johannesburg, she is now a law student at Varsity College, a model and a netball player.
According to her biography for Miss South Africa, she is passionate about bringing about change in the area of violence against women and children.
The winner of Miss South Africa will be announced on August 10 at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria.
FEMAIL has contacted the organisers of Miss South Africa for comment.
