South Africa is set to revoke the national documents of Chidimma Adetshina, a beauty pageant queen of Nigerian and South African descent, after she and her mother failed to meet a deadline to justify their citizenship claims. The Department of Home Affairs made this announcement after investigating Adetshina’s eligibility to compete in the Miss South Africa pageant, where her nationality was questioned due to her Nigerian father and Mozambican roots through her mother.
Adetshina had withdrawn from the Miss South Africa pageant in August 2024 amidst backlash and accusations that her mother may have committed identity theft to obtain South African nationality. She then went on to win the Miss Universe Nigeria pageant and will represent Nigeria in the Miss Universe competition on November 16 .
The Home Affairs Director General, Tommy Makhode, stated that Adetshina and her mother’s documents would be canceled in line with the Identification Act, as they failed to provide reasons why their documents should not be revoked ¹. The case has been referred to the Hawks, a special police unit that investigates serious crimes, which has concluded that it is a “case of fraud” .
This controversy has sparked a wave of xenophobic vitriol in South Africa, with Adetshina expressing that she would need therapy to recover from the backlash. Despite this, she maintains a strong sense of dual identity, stating that she is “proudly South African” and “proudly Nigerian”.
