South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs has revealed that it will be cancelling the travel and identity documents of former Miss South Africa contestant, Chidimma Adetshina, and her Mozambican-born mother, after they failed to justify why they should keep them.
The department told a parliamentary portfolio committee that the pair was also possibly facing fraud charges.
Adetshina’s case reached Parliament in August when the public questioned her heritage and nationality after she became a finalist in the Miss SA pageant.
Briefing parliament on Tuesday on its work to deal with corruption in the department, deputy minister Njabulo Nzuza said the department is acting as it was ignored by Chidimma and her mother.
The two failed to respond to Monday’s deadline to make representations as to why they should keep their South African national documents.
“We’ve done our investigations, we went through due process, we gave her an opportunity to make representation [and this] was not done,” Nzuza said.
In August, the Home Affairs Department said it had paid a house visit to the Mozambican-born mother of Adetshina – and has now issued her with a legal letter asking her to explain her case or face having her identity registration cancelled.
Subsequently Adetshina’s own SA ID would be rendered a nullity as well.
Adetshina is set to represent Nigeria in the Miss Universe final in Mexico City next month after she won the Miss Universe Nigeria title.
