The department of Home Affairs has tried to explain the position of Miss SA contestant Chidimma Vanessa Onwe Adetshina, whose nationality saga has been hogging the headlines after she entered the top 30 of the competition.
This came after it was revealed that Adetshina’s father was allegedly Nigerian while the 23-year-old’s mother was suspected to be from Mozambique.
The contestant has been the target of social media users who believe that she should not be competing since both her parents were allegedly from outside the country.
Others have defended her, saying that by virtue of her being born in the country, she was eligible to compete, because she was South African.
In a statement this week, the organisers of the beauty contest confirmed that Adetshina met the requirements to compete.
“All documentation provided by the entrants is screened and vetted. Chidimma is a South African citizen, her mother is South African, and her father is Nigerian,” read the statement.
While the department failed to respond to questions from ‘The Star’, speaking on national radio, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Njabulo Nzuza - despite attempts to get out of the conversation - discussed the question of who is South African.
Nzuza said: “It is commonly acquired either by soil or by blood. When we say soil, it’s because you are born in that country, and then you become a citizen. One country which has adopted this is America, whereby if you are born there, you become a US citizen. In South Africa, you get citizenship by blood. One of your parents must be a South African to qualify.
“In some cases, it's not the actual person, but it are the parents of that person who have obtained citizenship … I’ve heard a lot of people say that if you are born in South Africa, you are a citizen. No, in South Africa, citizenship is by blood.”
Nzuza said a child born in South Africa to foreign parents could obtain citizenship if their parents had a permit to reside in the country.
Investigations by The Star revealed that Section 2, subsection 2(b) of the South African Citizenship Amendment Act 17 of 2010, of the principal Act 88 of 1995, states that “any person who is born in or outside the Republic, one of his or her parents, at the time of his or her birth, being a South African citizen, shall be a South African citizen by birth”.
This means the law negates Adetshina’s validity as a South African if it’s true that her parents are from Nigeria and Mozambique.
In the same light, considering her age, it suggests she might have entered the country with her father in 2010, which nullifies her South African citizenship.
While Adetshina confirmed her Nigerian and Mozambican heritage, while she grew up in Soweto, Subsection 2, section 3 (a) states: “Any person born in the Republic of parents who have been admitted into the Republic for permanent residence and who is not a South African citizen qualifies to be a South African citizen by birth, if he or she has lived in the Republic from the date of his or her birth to the date of becoming a major”.
The Star’s attempts to contact Ben Dlamini, who is alleged to be her father, to confirm his identity came to naught.
In an interview podcast, Dlamini is heard saying he arrived in South Africa in 2010,through a visitor’s visa, with his South African wife.
He noted they had no children in 2010 prior to their marriage in 2013, which contradicts Adetshina’s age. She is 23 years old, according to the Miss SA organisation.
Dlamini said: “I am a Nigerian and my wife is South African. I have lived in SA for 10 years. My kids use my surname because I am married to their mom.
“We met in the UK. In 2010, during the World Cup, we decided we were going to visit (SA). At that time, we did not have children. It was my first time entering SA, with a visitor’s visa. We came back in 2013 and married in SA on a visitor’s visa. My kids have dual citizenship.”
Asked whether his children were South African, Dlamini said: “They are Nigerian kids, but they have every single right you as a South African citizen have.”
The EFF this week said they were in solidarity with Adetshina. This was after their MP, Naledi Chirwa, condemned Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie for saying Nigerians could not compete in the Miss SA pageant.
EFF national spokesperson Leigh-Ann Mathys slammed South African social media users for being “cyber bullies, Afrophobic and misogynistic” towards Adetshina.
Mathys further accused users of hating Adetshina because of her Nigerian paternal heritage, despite being recognised as a South African and having a Mozambican mother.
The Patriotic Alliance (PA) threatened legal action if she were to compete.
It’s deputy president, Kenny Kunene, said Adetshina’s video that circulated on social media showing her celebrating with a Nigerian entourage was a clear indication she did not identify as a South African.
“It is clear from the video material in circulation of her family that Adetshina’s family is fully Nigerian, and that they are celebrating her success as Nigerians, not South Africans,” said Kunene.
He added that Adeshina neither had the right to participate in the competition, nor qualified to represent South Africa on global stages.
Kunene said: “As the Patriotic Alliance, we are therefore pursuing legal avenues to get to the bottom of this matter, including interdicting Adetshina’s participation, if necessary.”
The Star