South Africa Tuesday stripped Chidimma Adetshina and her mother of their national identity papers.
Miss Adetshina, 23, who is representing Nigeria at the Miss Universe beauty contest in Mexico on November 16 has been a target of harassment by the South African authorities since she pulled out of the Miss South Africa pageant in August due to a row over her nationality.
She was born in South Africa to a Nigeria father and a mother of Mozambican descent, her entrance into the Miss South Africa pageant caused a stir. She ultimately pulled out and instead participated in the Miss Universe Nigeria where she won the right to represent Nigeria at the Miss Universe pageant.
There has been a clamour by South Africans for the government to withdraw her documents and organisers of the Miss Universe cancel her participation. The South African government said it was cancelling Adetshina and her mother’s identification documents after they missed a deadline to justify keeping them.
Adetshina and her mother were given until Monday to provide reasons why their national identification documents should not be cancelled, Home Affairs Director General Tommy Makhode told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday.
“We have not received any response and therefore the department will be proceeding with the withdrawal of those documents in line with the Identification Act,” Makhode said.
South Africa and Nigeria, the continent’s two economic heavyweights, have a long-held rivalry, with tensions spilling over into sports, music, regional political influence and even ride-sharing apps.
