A 23-year-old South African beauty queen, Chidimma Vannesa Onwe Adetshina, has faced backlash after making it to the top 16 at the ongoing Miss South Africa (Miss SA) pageant.
Born in Soweto to a Nigerian father and South African mother, Adetshina has been targeted by some South Africans who claim she is not South African by birth.
According to a South African Vlogger, some South Africans are unpleased that Adetshina made the top 16 in the pageant, adding that Nigerians in South Africa are known to engage in questionable jobs.
Responding to the trolls, the beauty queen said in various interviews that she is a South African and qualified to compete at the pageant.
“I am a South African citizen and I have met all the requirements to be a part of the Miss SA competition. The fact that my father is Nigerian does not take away from the fact that I am South African. My mother is South African, and I was born and raised in this country,” she said.
Also clearing the air on the issue, the Miss SA organisation, in a statement confirmed that Adetshina met all the requirements to participate in the pageant.
“All documentation provided by the entrants is screened and vetted. Chidimma is a South African citizen and has met all the requirements to be a part of the Miss South Africa competition. Her mother is South African (Zulu), and her father is Nigerian,” they said in the statement.
According to the Miss SA organisation, to be eligible to contest for the pageant, the contestant must be a South African citizen and possess a valid ID or passport. If the contestant holds dual citizenship, documents relating to both must be made available.
Also, as stated in the amended South African Citizenship Act, citizenship can be acquired by birth, descent, or naturalisation.
While most South Africans are against the Miss SA organisation allowing Adetshina to continue with the competition, in 2001, Vanessa Carreira, born to Portuguese-Angolan parents in South Africa won the Miss South Africa title.
Multimedia journalist covering Entertainment and Foreign news
I don’t really understand the problem South Africans have with foreign nationals. For the fact that your country went through apartheid in the hands of the Boers doesn’t mean you must be hostile to your fellow Africans. If you go to Europe, so many individual citizens of countries have their traits tied to one country or another based on their heritage. If South Africans want a Continent for themselves i will implore the UN to give it to them and let them stay isolated from the rest of the world.
This is my concern with South Africans. They can’t tolerate others, too bad.
Great Article.
Am not surprised at all…f her getting the backlashed, I would call this inferiority complex, less assume her mum is white foreign woman and her father SA,would she get criticism?…well I don’t think so, just because her father is a Nigerian… There comes questions marks . But she has made her mark and has worked hard to be where she is now,so all the bad mouthers….” Deal with it”
Nigerians should start re-evaluating their relationship with South Africans. Undoubtedly the South Africans have pathological hatred for Nigerians so there is no need to pretend about friendship or ‘brotherly’ relationship between the two peoples. Nigerians should move out of South Africa once the opportunity arise and seek for better place(s) to move to. The apartheid mentality is already ingrained into their system and it’s not possible for them to be refined out of this. They should be left alone, good luck to them.
Xenophobia at play. Denying Chidimma her right to partake in the pageant is inhuman and uncivilised. She had proved that she was born and bread up in South Africa, despite her mother being a South African. There was precedence to justify her inclusion. Again South Africa should not forget in a hurry how Nigeria help her out of apartheid regime. We have always been playing big brother status but no reciprocation, rather vilification. Quite unfortunate.
I am Anih Stanley Emmanuel, male, Christian and a Nigerian.