South Africa to Revoke Identity and Travel Documents of Beauty Queen Chidimma Adetshina

Beauty queen Chidimma Adetshina, who has been central to a significant dispute over her nationality, is set to have her South African identity and travel documents withdrawn. Her situation came under investigation by the Department of Home Affairs after she reached the finals of the Miss South Africa pageant. The department faced scrutiny when her eligibility to participate was challenged due to her mother’s Mozambican heritage and her father’s Nigerian nationality. She withdrew from the competition in August, following an announcement by the department suggesting her mother may have engaged in “identity theft” to acquire South African nationality. Ms. Adetshina, a law student, subsequently won Miss Universe Nigeria after receiving an invitation from the event’s organisers. This controversy ignited widespread xenophobic hostility in South Africa, prompting Ms. Adetshina to inform the BBC that she would “need therapy to recover.” The Department of Home Affairs communicated its decision regarding the revocation of her identification documents to a parliamentary committee on Tuesday. Tommy Makhode, the department’s leading civil servant, stated that Ms. Adetshina’s mother would also have her documents invalidated because both individuals did not meet Monday’s deadline to submit justifications for their eligibility to retain them. Neither Ms. Adetshina nor her mother has issued a statement concerning the decision to revoke their documents. Mr. Makhode indicated that the matter had been sent to the Hawks, a specialized police unit responsible for investigating serious offenses, which determined it to be a “case of fraud.” Officials are now awaiting guidance from prosecutors on the next steps. Following the department’s disclosure in August, it had previously stated that Ms. Adetshina “could not have participated in the alleged unlawful actions of her mother as she was an infant at the time.” Ms. Adetshina has previously asserted that she was born in Soweto, a South African township. Subsequent to her victory in the Nigerian beauty competition, she informed the BBC that she continued to identify as “proudly South African” and “proudly Nigerian.” Ms. Adetshina recently arrived in Mexico to represent Nigeria at the Miss Universe competition scheduled for 16 November. She is set to compete against participants from various countries, including Mia le Roux, who secured the title of Miss South Africa this year.