Beauty queen Chidimma Adetshina, who has been embroiled in a nationality dispute, will lose her South African identity and travel documents.
The Department of Home Affairs initiated an investigation into Adetshina’s nationality after she became a finalist in the Miss South Africa pageant, sparking questions about her eligibility due to her Nigerian and Mozambican heritage.
Adetshina, a law student, withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August following the department’s revelation that her mother may have committed “identity theft” to obtain South African citizenship. Subsequently, Adetshina won Miss Universe Nigeria after being invited to participate.
The controversy around her nationality fueled xenophobic backlash in South Africa, leading Adetshina to tell the BBC that she would require therapy to cope with the ordeal.
On Tuesday, the Department of Home Affairs informed a parliamentary committee of the decision to revoke Adetshina’s ID documents. Tommy Makhode, the department’s chief civil servant, stated that both Adetshina and her mother had missed the deadline to justify keeping their documents. Her case has now been referred to the Hawks, South Africa’s special police unit for serious crimes, which has identified it as a “case of fraud,” pending further direction from prosecutors.
While the department clarified in August that Adetshina was not involved in any alleged unlawful activities by her mother due to her young age at the time, Adetshina maintains she was born in Soweto, South Africa. She has publicly expressed pride in both her Nigerian and South African heritage.
Adetshina recently arrived in Mexico to represent Nigeria in the upcoming Miss Universe competition on November 16, where she will compete alongside contestants from around the world, including this year’s Miss South Africa, Mia le Roux.
