Beauty queen Chidimma Adetshina, at the center of a nationality controversy, is set to lose her South African identity and travel documents.
The Department of Home Affairs initiated an investigation into her background after she became a finalist in the Miss South Africa pageant.
Concerns arose about her eligibility due to her mother’s Mozambican heritage and her father’s Nigerian roots.
In August, she withdrew from the competition following allegations that her mother might have engaged in “identity theft” to obtain South African nationality. Subsequently, Adetshina, a law student, won the Miss Universe Nigeria title after being invited by the event organizers.
The controversy led to a surge of xenophobic sentiments in South Africa, prompting Adetshina to express to the BBC her need for therapy to cope with the situation.
During a parliamentary committee meeting, the Department of Home Affairs confirmed the revocation of her identity documents. Tommy Makhode, a senior official at the department, stated that both Adetshina and her mother failed to meet a deadline to justify their eligibility to retain their documents, resulting in their cancellation.
Makhode added that the case had been forwarded to the Hawks, a special police unit handling serious crimes, which determined it was a “case of fraud,” and they are awaiting guidance from prosecutors on the next steps.
The department had previously indicated that Adetshina could not have participated in any alleged wrongdoing by her mother as she was an infant at the time.
Adetshina claims to have been born in Soweto, South Africa. After her victory in Nigeria, she reiterated that she identifies as both “proudly South African” and “proudly Nigerian.”
Currently, she has arrived in Mexico to represent Nigeria at the Miss Universe competition scheduled for November 16, where she will compete against contestants from around the world, including this year’s Miss South Africa winner, Mia le Roux.
