The Miss South Africa beauty contest has been hit by a xenophobia row after a vicious campaign called for a finalist to be removed over her mixed heritage.
Chidimma Adetshina, a 23-year-old law student and model, is one of the competition’s ten finalists, with the winner due to be announced on Saturday.
But ever since Adetshina was revealed as a finalist in July, she has been met with vile abuse on social media and Miss South Africa and the government have been urged to ban her from competing.
The stunning model was born in South Africa but has mixed parentage through her Nigerian father, while her mother has Mozambican descent.
Miss South Africa said previously that she is eligible to compete as she holds a valid ID and passport, while the nation grants citizenship by birth to anyone born in the country after 1995.
Chidimma Adetshina, 23, has been met with calls to remove her from the Miss South Africa contest due to her mixed heritage
Adetshina said it was disappointing to see so much ‘black-on-black hate’ in the response to her achievements in the contest, and told local media: ‘You try so hard to represent your country and wear it with so much pride but all these people are not in support of you.’
Vicious rumours accused Adetshina of not being eligible to take part in the competition, claiming she’s Nigerian and not actually South African.
Images circulating on social media of her alongside others dressed in traditional Nigerian attire only worsened the abuse.
Fuel was added to the fire after an investigation by the Home Affairs ministry uncovered ‘prima facie indications’ that Adetshina’s mother may have stolen the identity of a South African woman after she was born.
Home Affairs minister Leon Schreiber said: ‘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.
‘An innocent South African mother, whose identity may have been stolen as part of the alleged fraud committed by Adetshina’s mother, suffered as a result because she could not register her child.’
South Africa today is known as the ‘Rainbow Nation’ but xenophobia still remains post-apartheid.
The abuse commonly targets those from Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Somalia, who are used as scapegoats for ‘taking jobs away’ and causing high levels of drugs and crime.
The stunning model was born and raised in South Africa. Her father is Nigerian while her mother has Mozambican descent
Adetshina is one of ten finalists, with the winner of the competition due to 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 per cent of the vote in May’s elections.
McKenzie, who is also Minister of Culture, wrote last week on Twitter: ‘We truly cannot have Nigerians competing in our Miss SA competition. I want to get all the facts before I comment, but it gives funny vibes already.
‘Whenever you present yourself to represent South Africans, you are willingly opening yourself up to scrutiny.
‘South Africans shouldn’t be ashamed and accused simply because they are asking needed questions of the lady who wants to represent them as Miss South Africa.’
But Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, came to her defence during a podcast interview.
He said: ‘We cannot punish people based on where their parents come from… Your citizenship is determined by where you were born, so if she was born here, she’s South African.
‘It doesn’t matter. She’s not her parents, she’s herself. So why say she’s from Nigeria or Mozambique? She was born here.’
Adetshina, who is also a netball player and law student, has been hounded by abuse on social media
Adetshina revealed in her entry video that her parents are not from South Africa, which initiated the debate of her eligibility to compete.
She was born and raised in Johannesburg and is now a law student at Varsity College, model and netball player.
According to her bio for Miss South Africa, she is passionate about advocating for change on violence against women and children.
The winner of Miss South Africa will be announced at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria on August 10.
FEMAIL has reached out to the organisers of Miss South Africa for comment.
