THINGS turned ugly for beauty contestant Chidimma Adetshina this week when South Africans questioned her eligibility to participate in the Miss South Africa pageant because her father is Nigerian.

However, as the online battle raged, the Miss SA website revealed another interesting nugget; even those who were not classified female at birth were eligible to enter.

“You do not have to have been born a female to enter the Miss South Africa pageant. However, in order to be eligible to compete internationally the contestant must be in possession of a valid South African ID document reflecting that their amended sex is female.” According to the website even women with children or those who were married could enter; while there were no specified height or weight requirements.

But the focus remained on Adetshina, a law student who had reached the finals of the competition as doubt surfaced about the nationality of her South African mother with social media posts alleging that she was actually Mozambican.

Adetshina, has since gone to ground and questions to the pageant’s organisers have also gone unanswered.

Sport, Arts and Culture minister Gayton McKenzie, known for his stance on illegal foreigners added fuel to the fire when questioned by the media. “...we truly cannot have Nigerians compete in our Miss SA competition. I wanna get all facts before I comment, but it gives funny vibes already,” tweeted McKenzie.

In another interview on SABC McKenzie said, “The people that voted for me, when they ask questions, they put me there to ask those questions on their behalf and that’s what I’m doing now. And, if she’s South African, we will wish her well but if she’s not South African, we can’t have her represent us on the world stage.”

His party, the Patriotic Alliance joined the fray saying that it was evident from video material that Adetshina’s family was “fully Nigerian” and were celebrating her success as Nigerians, not South Africans.

“Miss South Africa is meant to be a patriotic ambassador for South Africa wherever she goes in the world. She must represent the best of what it means to be a young South African woman in this country today, and she must promote South Africa’s interests wherever she will go, and particularly when she contests for global pageants such as Miss World or Miss Universe.”

However, Adetshina found an ally in former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela who called on South Africans to “stop the noise” and support all the Miss SA contestants, including Adetshina.

Miss SA finalist Chidimma Adetshina’s nationality is being questioned, with some suggesting she is not a South African. Miss SA website

In a message posted on the social media platform, X, Madonsela said:

“Dear Fellow South Africans, please note that based on applying s(2)(1) of the Citizenship Act of 1995 on information in the public domain, Miss Chidimma Vanessa Adetshina is a South African by birth lawfully participating in the Miss South Africa Competition. Should she win, she is entitled to represent us as Miss SA 2024. As indicated yesterday, your parents need not have been South African for you to be a citizen by birth.” Madonsela added that to qualify for citizenship by descent it wasn’t a requirement to be born in the country. “...and it’s not true that the 2010 amendment requires both parents to be South African for you to acquire citizenship by birth. Only one parent must be a South African,” Madonsela said.

Earlier this week Adetshina clarified on social media that the person featured in the widely circulated clip from an interview on the Ben Stesh podcast, was not her father.

“It has been brought to my attention that there is an alleged interview going around about my father. The individual in question claiming and impersonating to be my dad is not my father.”

The Miss South Africa organisation said that Adetshina was born in Soweto and holds both a South African ID and passport. “Her mother is South African and her father is Nigerian. Adetshina meets all the contestant eligibility criteria, which can be found on the Miss SA website.”

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Miss SA finalist faces dispute