by SAVIOUS KWINIKA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THE uproar around the participation of a candidate in the ongoing Miss South Africa is a case of Afrophobia rearing its ugly head again in South Africa.
Chidimma Adetshina, the 23-year-old model, is in the middle of the storm that has overshadowed the crowning of the country’s prime beauty queen later this month.
This is because while she was born in South Africa, her father is Nigerian and her mother, who is Zulu, has Mozambican heritage.
The issue has ceased to be a pageant one but degenerated into a sociopolitical crisis in a country that is highly polarized on the issues of xenophobia, citizenship and immigration.
Political foes have waded into the issue and sadly, hate speech has characterised the debate around the eligibility of Adetshina, despite the organisers of the Miss South Africa 2024 maintaining that the young woman from Soweto meets the criteria to participate in the pageant.
Some anti-migrant elements believe participants in the show must only be born of both South African parents.
The outrage around Adetshina’s participation, which has only emerged now as 11 finalists are left, smacks of double standards among some South Africans in that a beauty queen born of Portuguese and Angolan parents has previously won the title.
In fact, this year’s edition, a model of Chinese lineage made it to the Top 25, with no qualms from the same public victimising Adetshina, a South African by birth and her mother being a citizen.
Gayton Mckenzie, the recently-appointed Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, has courted controversy by comments seemingly in opposition to Adetshina’s eligibility.
“We truly cannot have Nigerians compete in our Miss SA competition. I want to get all facts before I comment but it gives funny vibes already,” he said.
Mckenzie is an excitable character whose party, Patriotic Alliance (PA), secured election into Parliament on a campaign premised on mass deportations of foreign nationals living in the country, mainly targeting fellow Africans.
He was appointed minister after joining a coalition government with the formerly dominant African National Congress (ANC) of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Some South Africans on social media have been explicit that while Adetshina qualifies, their campaign has been driven by hatred of Nigerians, and to an extent, Mozambicans.
They are from a school of thought that believes foreign nationals are to blame for crimes and contribute to joblessness in South Africa. Crackdowns against illegal immigration target mostly African nationals.
An online petition in protest of Adetshina’s participation had collected around thousands of signatures.
However, if the previous Miss SA pageants and the current one are anything to go by, Afrophobia is at play here.
Vanessa Carreira, whose parents are Angolan and Portuguese, won the title in 2021.
In the current competition, Sherry Wand made it to the Top 35. She is of Chinese descent.
Thus, critics pointed out these citizens were not perceived as foreigners, but blacks from around the continent are.
“This situation reflects remnants of apartheid and colonisation, where divisive ideologies continue to plague our society,” the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) stated.
“It is particularly troubling that previous contestants of foreign descent did not face similar scrutiny when they were white or Asian, such as Vanessa Carreira whose parents are Portuguese and Angolan, highlighting a blatant case of Afrophobia.”
The winner will be crowned on August 10. She will represent South Africa at the Miss Universe to be held in November, in Mexico.
– CAJ News