South African beauty queen Chidimma Adetshina faces being stripped of her citizenship and travel documents after finding herself at the centre of a fierce row about her nationality.
Law student Adetshina, 23, became the subject of an investigation after reaching the finals of the Miss South Africa pageant, only to face questions about her eligibility due to her Mozambican and Nigerian heritage.
The 23-year-old’s mother was accused of committing ‘identity theft’ in order to falsely obtain South African citizenship, and Adetshina was forced to withdraw from the competition due to fears for her family’s ‘safety and wellbeing’.
She then went on to represent Nigeria in the Miss Universe competition after being invited to participate by the organisers, despite not having been in Nigeria for 20 years.
Nigerian organisers said it was a chance for her to ‘represent your father’s native land on an international stage.’
But the accusations surrounding her citizenship have continued to swirl, and the Department of Home Affairs made the announcement on Tuesday that they planned to withdraw her ID papers and revoke travel rights until the matter is resolved.
Tommy Makhode, South Africa’s top civil servant at the department, said Ms Adetshina’s mother would also have her documents cancelled as they had both failed to meet Monday’s deadline to provide reasons why they should be eligible to keep them.
Their case has since been referred to the Hawks—a police unit handling serious crimes—who concluded it was a ‘case of fraud.’
But they also admitted that whatever the outcome, Ms Adestshina ‘could not have participated in the alleged unlawful actions of her mother as she was an infant at the time’.
The beauty queen has not yet commented on the move to revoke her papers, but previously told the BBC she would ‘need therapy to recover’ from the xenophobic vitriol she has faced after becoming embroiled in the row.
Ms Adestahina previously said she was born in the South African township of Soweto, and after winning the beauty competition in Nigeria, told the BBC that she still saw herself as ‘proudly South African’ and ‘proudly Nigerian’.
Although she has been mostly embraced by Nigerians who were pleased to see her triumph, some have suggested the way she entered the competition was unfair on the other contestants
‘I do get where people are coming from, but at the end of the day I also had my own journey, I had my fair share of going through the process,’ she said.
‘There might have been a slight difference, but I feel like I also went through the journey that they went through.’
In the meantime, Adetshina will reside in Mexico for the next few weeks as she prepares to represent Nigeria at the Miss Universe competition held on November 16.
She will compete against contestants from across the world, including Mia le Roux, who won this year’s Miss South Africa contest.
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