The Department of Home Affairs, DHA, for South Africa has announced preliminary findings over an investigation into the nationality of beauty queen, Chidinma Adetshina.
Chidimma, a model of Nigerian heritage, was recently subjected to controversies over her eligibility to contest for the 2024 Miss South Africa.
Her parents reportedly met in Johannesburg in the late ’90s before eventually settling in Pimville.
The controversy surrounding the 23-year-old’s nationality gained traction on social media in July after she qualified for the round of 16.
The minister of South African Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber in a statement on Monday, said the department launched an investigation after receiving official requests from organisers of Miss SA to inquire about Chidimma’s citizenship.
But the DHA in a video and statement shared late Wednesday, alleged Adetshina’s mother may have committed fraud and identity theft.
“From the information we have uncovered thus far, we can indicate that prima facie 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.
“Adetshina could not have participated in the alleged unlawful actions of her mother, as she was an infant in 2021 when the activities took place. An innocent South African mother, whose identity may have been stolen as part of the fraud committed by Adetshina’s mother, suffered because she could not register her child.”