South Africans divided over nationality, identity of Miss SA contestant: summary

What we know

• A 23-year-old South African beauty pageant contestant, born to a Nigerian father and a mother with both South African and Mozambican roots, has sparked controversy over her nationality and eligibility.
• Chidimma Adetshina, who was born in Soweto and lives in Cape Town, was announced on July 1 as a contestant vying to represent South Africa at the Miss Universe pageant. However, her announcement rather sparked controversy followed by a series of abuse about her South African citizenship.
• An online petition for her disqualification as a finalist which had over 14,000 signatories was uploaded but later deleted by the platform, change.org. South Africa’s Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie, leader of the Patriotic Alliance party, which is part of a coalition government focused on migration issues, has voiced his criticism of Chidimma's participation.
• Dr. Nombulelo Shange, a sociologist at the University of the Free State, attributes this hostility to South Africa's history of racism and the apartheid system, which enforced a strict racial hierarchy favoring white people. After apartheid ended in 1994, Nelson Mandela's African National Congress (ANC) government welcomed African migrants and asylum seekers to help reintegrate the country into the continent after years of isolation.
• Despite this inclusive policy, African migrants, including Zimbabweans, Nigerians, and Somalis, have often been accused of taking opportunities and resources from South Africans, contributing to the ongoing debate about Chidimma's participation in the beauty pageant.

What they said

In an interview, Chidimma said “I was so excited to enter Miss SA and honestly, I didn’t think that far as to what the public would think. But once I got to the top 16, that’s when I felt it. People on X [formally known as Twitter] were asking why I'm competing because I’m not South African. They questioned my nationality, along with my parents," she said. Adding, “At first I ignored it but as I progressed in the competition, the criticism started growing by the day. Until I thought to myself, I am representing a country but I don’t feel the love from the people I’m representing – I even asked myself, ‘Is it worth it?’…“You try so hard to represent your country and wear it with so much pride but all these people are not in support of you… I’ve gotten to a point where I don’t know what to say or not to say because this is such a sensitive topic. I don’t want to end up saying something and then offend people," she said.  “I’m at a point where I don’t know whether I should keep quiet or set the record straight because there’s a lot that’s being misconstrued. To me, I see this as an opportunity where I can educate people, I just need to see how I go about it,” she is quoted. McKenzie also said in a post on X that, “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," he said on X.