Miss South Africa Scandal: Finalist Chidimma Adetshina's Quits Amid Heritage Controversy

Epic daily

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome.

00:01Let's take a look at our top story.

00:03South Africa's national beauty pageant

00:05has gone deeper into turmoil.

00:07The controversy around one of the contestants,

00:10now a finalist, Chidema Adichina,

00:13is getting bigger with South African governments stepping in.

00:17Now, in the latest, Chidema Adichina

00:19has withdrawn from the beauty pageant

00:21ahead of the Saturday final.

00:23This comes after the South African

00:25beauty pageant has been suspended

00:27ahead of the Saturday final.

00:29This comes after the South African government

00:31accused the mother of the contestant

00:33of fraud and identity theft.

00:36From the moment she became a finalist

00:38in the South African beauty pageant,

00:40Chidema Adichina has been subjected

00:43to a torrent of online abuse

00:45and xenophobic attacks

00:47over her Nigerian heritage.

00:49Many, including South African cabinet ministers,

00:52have questioned her credentials

00:55and the pageant organizers requested

00:57an investigation after uproar.

01:00They initially backed Adichina,

01:02saying that she is a South African citizen by birth,

01:05with a valid ID and passport,

01:07and met all eligibility criteria.

01:10Now, the Home Affairs Ministry

01:12is investigating the matter.

01:14In its reports, the ministry said

01:16it has prima facie indications

01:18that Adichina's mother might have committed fraud

01:21and stolen the identity of a South African woman

01:24after the Miss South Africa Hopeful was born.

01:27The Home Affairs Ministry

01:29is now obtaining legal advice

01:31on the implications on Adichina's citizenship,

01:34adding the contestant did not participate

01:37in the alleged unlawful actions

01:39as she was an infant at the time.

01:42Adichina and her mother

01:44had given their written consent

01:46to the initial probe.

01:4823-year-old Chidema Adichina

01:51was born in Soweto to a Nigerian

01:53father and a mother of Mozambican descent.

01:56South Africa grants citizenship by birth

01:59to anyone born in the country after 1995,

02:03and Adichina was born in 2001.

02:06Now, she has been witnessing heavy scrutiny,

02:09backlash over her identity,

02:11and questions about her bloodline.

02:13It has become a matter of national importance

02:16in South Africa.

02:18Her nationality has been a hot topic

02:20among politicians and celebrities,

02:22and even on TV news and radio talk shows

02:25in recent weeks.

02:27The debate intensified

02:29after a video of Adichina surfaced

02:31showing her celebrating her success

02:34with her Nigerian relatives.

02:36This further fueled the argument by many

02:39that she was not South African enough.

02:41While many came to her defense,

02:44the others argued that she should be disqualified

02:47over her Nigerian ties.

02:49Among the loudest critics

02:51was arts and culture minister Gaten McKenzie.

02:54His far-right party won 2% of the vote

02:57in the May election,

02:58where immigration was a key issue.

03:01McKenzie earlier said it would be a travesty

03:03for the country to be represented globally

03:06by someone who identifies more with Nigeria

03:09than South Africa.

03:11In recent years, South Africa has witnessed

03:13an increase in hostility toward foreigners.

03:16This is because its people are suffering

03:19due to unwavering unemployment.

03:21Despite a low economic growth,

03:23the country attracts millions of migrants,

03:26mainly from other African countries.

03:28But the latest pageant controversy

03:31has only highlighted South Africa's

03:33deep-seated history of xenophobia,

03:35particularly towards African immigrants.

03:38For more on this,

03:40we are being joined by Lauren Landau,

03:42a senior researcher

03:44with the African Center for Migration and Society

03:47at the University of Witwatersrand,

03:50joining us live from Johannesburg.

03:52Thank you for being with us.

03:54It's a pleasure.

03:58Now, Chedena Adichina has received

04:01a torrent of online abuse

04:03and xenophobic attacks

04:05over her Nigerian heritage,

04:07which has led to her withdrawing

04:09from the competition.

04:10How does Adichina's experience

04:12highlight the challenges

04:14faced by immigrants in South Africa

04:16if we can explore the broader issues

04:19related to acceptance,

04:21citizenship and the treatment of immigrants?

04:26This is a complicated issue.

04:28And of course, a beauty pageant

04:30is not the most important thing

04:32going on in South Africa at the moment.

04:34But it has crystallized a series of debates

04:37among the South African people

04:39and, as you've said, among politicians

04:41over who is a South African

04:43and who should represent South Africa.

04:45What we see in this case

04:47is a very interesting one.

04:48South Africa has embraced foreign-born musicians,

04:52foreign-born sports stars

04:54as representative of the country

04:56at the highest level.

04:57But there is something about her,

04:59about the pageant, about beauty,

05:01about her having Nigerian heritage

05:04that seems to have triggered a debate

05:06over what it means to be a South African,

05:09who can be a South African.

05:11Of course, South Africa is a country

05:13of massive diversity.

05:15And these sorts of debates

05:17have always been just below the surface.

05:22Yeah.

05:23What led to the xenophobic backlash

05:25against Chidema

05:27during the South Africa pageant

05:30in terms of the specific incidents

05:32and the social media reactions

05:34that targeted her based on her heritage?

05:38It's hard to say what specific event triggered it,

05:41whether it was a post,

05:43whether it was a flagpole on social media,

05:46or whether it has been

05:48a sort of broader set of issues

05:51over the last few years

05:52in which politicians, popular figures, etc.,

05:56have made immigration a central issue.

05:58And given the symbolism of this,

06:01I think people are very sensitive

06:03to the idea that someone

06:04who is not fully South African

06:06or fully loyal to South Africa

06:08might represent the country.

06:10They showed, as you said,

06:13pictures of her celebrating claims

06:15from her father about when he was here.

06:18There's been questions about her parentage.

06:20But I think, to some extent,

06:22it's not really about what she did

06:24or about anything that she has represented particularly.

06:28It's more that people are putting on her

06:31all of these debates

06:32over what it means to be a South African

06:34and to try to assert

06:36a certain type of definition for what it means.

06:41Right.

06:42And what steps, in your view,

06:44can be taken to promote unity,

06:46inclusivity, and human rights

06:49within the pageant and South Africa as a whole?

06:53What practical solutions are there

06:55to combat xenophobia

06:57with a view to the importance

06:58of celebrating diversity

07:00and a multicultural identity?

07:05Right.

07:06At the pageant level,

07:07it's disappointing that while the pageant organizers,

07:11of course, embraced her and defended her

07:13and I think would have allowed her

07:14to continue to compete,

07:15we didn't see a certain outpouring from politicians.

07:19We did, to some extent,

07:20from celebrities saying,

07:21look, South Africa is a diverse country.

07:24She was born here.

07:25She has citizenship.

07:27And we need to celebrate this.

07:29We've had Miss South Africans who are white,

07:32Miss South Africans who are Indian,

07:33Miss South Africans who are mixed race.

07:35This is just part of what it means to be South African.

07:38At a broader level,

07:39I think there is a need

07:40for a kind of family meeting over this.

07:43We have, as you mentioned,

07:44a minister whose last name is Scottish

07:46accusing her of not being South African enough

07:50and to ask questions about

07:51what does it take to become a South African?

07:54How do we talk about where we're from,

07:57how we manage this diversity?

07:59Those discussions have been ongoing,

08:01but clearly we need to have a better

08:04and more inclusive debate.

08:08Absolutely.

08:09Thank you very much for being with us on First Post Africa

08:12and for your very valued insights on this latest story.

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