The Miss South Africa contestant at the centre of a nationality dispute has withdrawn from the competition, saying she made the decision for her own safety and well-being and that of her family.
Chidimma Adetshina’s announcement on Instagram came a day after a preliminary investigation by the Department of Home Affairs found that her mother may have committed “identity fraud” to become a South African citizen.
Ms Adetshina, a 23-year-old law student, said she was born in Soweto, a township near Johannesburg, and grew up in Cape Town.
In media interviews, she explained that her father was Nigerian and her mother was a South African of Mozambican descent.
For weeks, there was a storm on social media about her roots, with some South Africans questioning whether she was even South African.
As the row escalated, Miss South Africa pageant organizers asked the Department of Home Affairs to conduct an investigation ahead of Saturday’s event.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry said it has so far determined that the identity of an “innocent” South African mother “may have been stolen” by Ms Adetshina’s mother.
However, Ms Adetshina “could not have been involved in her mother’s alleged wrongful acts as she was still a baby at the time,” the department said.
It added that it was conducting further investigations with the aim of filing criminal charges, while also seeking legal advice “on the implications of the alleged fraudulent activities for Adetshina’s citizenship status”.
In an Instagram postMs Adetshina did not comment on the findings but said she had taken the “difficult decision” to withdraw from the competition.
She said she was grateful “for all the love and support” she had received and wished the remaining candidates the very best.
“Whoever wears the crown represents all of us,” Ms Adetshina added.
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