South Africans began an online petition to get Chidimma Onwe Adetshina disqualified from the Miss SA pageant.
The 23-year-old beauty queen was born at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital to a Nigerian father and a South African mother with Mozambican roots.
The controversy began when Adetshina removed the Nigerian and Mozambican flags from her TikTok profile earlier this week, sparking criticism on social media.
Some South Africans are also questioning her eligibility due to her being a divorcee and a mother, despite the Miss SA rules updated in 2022 that now permit divorced and married women to compete.
Chidimma, during an interview, asserted that she is more than qualified, as she is a South African citizen. “I am a South African citizen, and I have met all the requirements to be a part of the Miss SA competition. The fact that my father is Nigerian does not take away from the fact that I am South African. My mother is South African, and I was born and raised in this country,” she told TRUELOVE magazine.
However, despite the uproar, the Miss South Africa organisation confirmed that Adetshina meets all the criteria, emphasising she holds a valid South African ID.
“All documentation provided by the entrants is screened and vetted.”