As controversy increases around Miss SA contestant, Chidimma Adetshina’s citizenry, Operation Dudula is set to hold a picket for the ‘verification of her identity’ and withdrawal from the pageant, outside the Miss SA organisation offices in Rivonia on Friday.
Adetshina’s nationality, for over two weeks, has fuelled division among South Africans online, with a faction demanding she resigns from the pageant, while the other expressed she qualifies to contest for the crown.
Adetshina was born to a Nigerian father, and a Mozambican mother.
Demanding ‘clarity’ about Adetshina’s nationality, Operation Dudula has organised a picket at the Miss SA offices on Friday.
Speaking to the The Star, Operation Dudula secretary-general Zodwa Booi demanded either the Home Affairs Department, or Miss SA organisation to produce credible paper-trail to corroborate Adetshina’s claims that she is South African.
“We seek clarity regarding her place of birth, and the location of her initial school. If she is indeed South African, she should possess a road-to-health clinic card and the hospital should have comprehensive records pertaining to her,” said Booi.
She maintained the vigilante group was not against legal foreigners in the country, as they are taxpayers but, “the reality remains that numerous individuals in the country possess fraudulent identification. Although Chidimma holds a SA ID, all we seek is verification of her identity.”
Should Adetshina win the pageant, Booi said: “She would not be representing South Africa, but Nigeria. Miss SA embodies national pride, and it would be deeply concerning for South Africans to witness their symbol of pride being represented by another nation.”
Sharing the same sentiment as Operation Dudula, leader of the African Transformation Movement (ATM) Vuyo Zungular said the accusations of South Africans being "xenophobes" were hogwash.
"South Africans are not xenophobic. We are arguably the most integrated country on the continent, where people from diverse backgrounds coexist peacefully, provided they are legal and abide by the law," said Zungular.
Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, confirmed that his department received a request from the Miss SA organisation to investigate the validity of a “certain contestant’s” citizenry.
The unnamed contestant permitted Miss SA to lodge an enquiry about her nationality from the Home Affairs Department, Schreiber said.
Upon investigation, the minister confirmed prima facie evidence was discovered pointing that Adetshina’s mother allegedly committed fraud and identity theft in 2001.
“An innocent South African mother, whose identity may have been stolen as part of the alleged fraud committed by Adetshina’s mother, suffered as a result because she could not register her child,” said Schreiber.
Schreiber said the department has broadened its investigation to identify and pursue any officials involved in the alleged fraudulent scheme, which would ultimately lead to criminal charges against the implicated parties.
There are ongoing engagements with all stakeholders, including Adetshina’s mother, Schreiber said.
He highlighted Adetshina’s alleged fraudulent case calls for urgency in digitising the department’s applications, adjudication and verification processes, “to insulate the department against fraudulent interference, similar to reforms undertaken at the South African Revenue Services in the late 2000s,” said Schreiber.
The minister noted that cleaning up the department is a demanding task that needs collaboration with the public to protect national security.
Commenting on the situation, a user on X, ‘Blooming’, posted a demand to the organisers of Miss Universe to revoke Miss SA from participating until the saga hounding Adetshina is solved.
“We, as South African citizens, respectfully request that Miss SA be removed from participation in the Miss Universe pageant until Miss SA organisation can ensure our representative aligns with the values and standards of Miss Universe pageant.”
In addition, Blooming stated Adetshina cannot compete for the crown as she is ‘a divorcee and mother’, which sends a ‘negative message to young girls who wish to compete in the pageant in future’.
The Star