Maina wa Njuguna
Controversy surrounding beauty pageant contenstant Ms. Chidimma Adetshina who withdrew from Miss South Africa last week has not abated. Ms. Adetshina withdrew from the Miss South Africa 2024 after relentless online abuses and scrutiny regarding her eligibility to compete. She withdrew citing her family’s welfare as the main reason.
She is of mixed heritage, a Nigerian father and Mozambiquean mother who is also a naturalized South African citizen. Scrutiny of her heritage by South African Department of Home Affairs preliminary evidence shows that her mother may have committed identity theft and fraud in getting her South African citizenship. The SA Department Affairs might pursue criminal charges against all implicated parties.
WIDESPREAD XENOPHOBIC VIOLENCE IN SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa has been dogged with numerous cases of xenophobia, especially of Afrophobic in nature which targets Africans from other countries.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has issued warnings of South Africa’s widespread xenophobic violence against African and Asian foreigners living in the country which are routinely and sometimes lethal.
Last year BBC Africa Eye released a documentary, Fear and Loathing in South Africa, which investigates the rise of xenophobia and follows Operation Dudula, an anti-immigrant vigilante group that allegedly targeted and harassed foreign nationals violently.
The saga in South Africa has been closely followed in Africa and more particularly in Nigeria where her father hails from. The Miss Universe Nigeria (MUN) following the withdrawal of Ms. Adetshina from the Miss South Africa competition formally invited her to contest for the Nigerian pageant.
“We at Miss Universe Nigeria have closely followed the developments regarding your decision to bow out of the Miss South Africa beauty pageant. We acknowledge the circumstances surrounding your withdrawal and understand the challenges you may be facing. In light of these events, we want to extend our support and encouragement,” read the message signed by the National Director of Miss Universe Nigeria, Guy Murray Bruce.
Miss Universe Nigeria expressed that opportunities to Ms. Adetshina’s journey in pageantry were open and wide, inviting her to contest the Miss Universe Nigeria 2024 pageant. “As a Nigerian by heritage, we would like to formally invite you to participate in the Miss Universe Nigeria 2024 pageant. This is an opportunity to represent your father’s native land internationally, and we believe you would be an outstanding contender,” the invitation read.
The Miss South Africa concluded yesterday with crowing of Mia le Roux, the first deaf woman to win the contest in the country.
The new Miss South Africa 2024 gets $53,371, a Mercedes Benz, and a furnished luxury apartment as the winning prize.
In her acceptance speech, she committed to help those who felt excluded from society to achieve their “wildest dreams, just like I am”, as well as to help those who were “financially excluded or differently abled”.
The Global Miss Universe is scheduled for later this year in Mexico. For more information on Miss Universe Nigeria Organisation, check out the link Miss Universe Nigeria website.
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