ON Friday, South Africa’s Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie urged Chidimma Adetshina, a Miss South Africa contestant of Nigerian descent, to prove her nationality. This intervention adds fuel to an ongoing controversy over her eligibility to represent the country.
Chidimma Adetshina, 23, has been subjected to xenophobic attacks on social media since being announced as a finalist in the national beauty pageant in July. Critics have questioned her South African credentials.
‘Why can’t she just produce documents and say she’s South African?’ McKenzie, known for his harsh anti-immigration stance, told national broadcaster SABC. ‘There are beautiful South African young ladies that might be robbed of this opportunity.’
The pageant organisers affirmed that Adetshina, a law student, is a South African citizen holding both a South African ID and passport, and thus ‘meets all the contestant eligibility criteria.’ Adetshina has stated that she was born in Soweto to a Nigerian father and a South African mother of Mozambican descent.
South Africa grants citizenship by birth to anyone born in the country after 1995. Despite this, Adetshina’s participation has intensified anti-foreigner sentiment in a nation that has witnessed violent and sometimes deadly attacks on immigrants.
The debate has drawn reactions from politicians, celebrities, and ordinary citizens on social media and talk shows. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a leftist party, expressed solidarity with Adetshina, condemning the attacks as ‘remnants of apartheid and colonisation, where divisive ideologies continue to plague our society.’
‘It is particularly troubling that previous contestants of foreign descent did not face similar scrutiny when they were white or Asian,’ the EFF stated.
Hostility towards foreigners has increased in recent years in South Africa, which, despite lacklustre economic growth, attracts millions of migrants, mainly from other African countries. Unwavering unemployment has exacerbated this sentiment.
‘If she’s South African, I’ll be the first person to apologise,’ said McKenzie, who became minister in June after his far-right Patriotic Alliance party joined a coalition government.
The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) condemned McKenzie’s remarks as ‘xenophobic bullying.’
Adetshina is set to compete in the Miss South Africa finals next week amid ongoing debates and scrutiny over her nationality.
