• A social media campaign seeking to remove a Miss SA participant from the competition has spun into a case of identity theft launched by Home Affairs.
• Contestant Chidinma Adetshina, who is of Nigerian descent, consented to be investigated by Home Affairs in order to put claims about her citizenship to rest.
• Home Affairs says that it has found evidence to suggest that Adetshina’s mother may have stolen the identity of a South African woman.

A sustained social media trend surrounding Miss SA pageant hopeful Chidinma Adetshina has seen the model investigated by the Department of Home Affairs, who have discovered evidence of identity fraud.

While Adetshina claims to be born and raised in South Africa, she has said that her parents are originally from Nigeria. Amid her bid to enter the Miss SA competition, users on Instagram, TikTok and X quickly made Adetshina viral, mostly launching xenophobic statements that she could never represent South Africa being of Nigerian descent, despite being a citizen of the country.

Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie and his Patriotic Alliance party which platformed on deporting illegal immigrants during the May elections period quickly got wind of the trend and brought the matter to the Department of Home Affairs on X.

The organisers of Miss SA, with consent from Adetshina and her mother, then petitioned the Department of Home Affairs to investigate the validity of Adetshina’s citizenship in South Africa as it could affect her involvement in the competition.

The investigation launched by the department found enough evidence to believe and state publically that identity fraud was committed not by the Miss SA contestant, but by her mother.

“[At first glance] reasons exist to believe that fraud and identity theft may have been committed by the person recorded in Home Affairs records as Chidimma Adetshina’s mother,” a statement from the department read.

It said that it used “every resource at its disposal” including archival research, hospital visits and site visits to gather evidence for this allegation. An interesting statement when the department can barely keep its systems online.

Home Affairs also cleared Adetshina herself from the fraud, stating that she could not have participated in the alleged crime because she was an infant at the time (the year 2001). It is claimed that Adetshina’s mother stole the identity of a South African woman, who was later not able to register her child at the department.

“The Department has broadened its investigation to identify and pursue any officials involved in the alleged fraudulent scheme, and is obtaining legal advice on the implications of the alleged fraudulent activity on Adetshina’s citizenship status,” it added, saying that it intends to press criminal charges.

Home Affairs is now calling for space from the South African public as it concludes its investigation, adding that it will not comment publically until it can announce the final outcome of the proceedings.

Meanwhile, the Patriotic Alliance has launched an interdict seeking to bar Adetshina from competing in the Miss SA competition, which too was posted to X.

The interdict may not be necessary, as Adetshina has posted to her Instagram that she is bowing out of the competition amid the debacle.

[Image – Photo by Mpho Mojapelo on Unsplash]