Anele Mda, a well-known gender and social activist, has called for the removal of Chidimma Adetshina as a finalist in the Miss South Africa 2024 pageant.
Mda has been actively sharing posts on Facebook, calling for Adetshina, a South African woman with a Nigerian father, to be removed from the competition because “South Africa is not for foreigners and no Nigerian is going to be paraded here”.
Mda, who was an independent candidate in the recent May 29 elections, has been sharing her strong views against Adetshina for weeks.
In one post, she wrote: “South Africa yona is not for foreigners and no Nigerian is gonna be paraded here!”
She accused the pageant of replacing South African women with a “Nigerian foreigner” and insisted that South African platforms should be reserved for South African women only.
“Today you want to replace South African women with a Nigerian foreigner.
“We will not allow any foreigner to ascend to spaces meant for South African women whose issues and challenges haven't yet been given the much needed profiling and exposure,” she said.
Her comments have sparked a heated debate, with many accusing her of being afrophobia and xenophobia.
However, Mda is unapologetic.
“I fear no label of being called xenophobic,” she said.
“This is a term that has been perpetuated as a way of silencing South Africans against any wrongs committed by foreigners in our country.
“We remain unmoved and unapologetic in our resolve that a Nigerian woman has no place in platforms where she elbows out our own in their own land.”
Mda went further to criticise the media, accusing certain news outlets of discouraging South Africans from voicing their concerns by branding them as xenophobic.
“Certain media houses have cowards in their newsrooms who are a rented mob to attack anyone speaking out against foreigners,” she said.
In response to a petition circulating online that calls for Adetshina’s removal from the pageant, Mda clarified that she did not initiate the petition but supports its objective. That petition had over 15,000 signatures.
“I have not started the petition against the Nigerian girl but I came across it and simply spread it for wider audience of South Africans who resonate with the objective of the petition which is to remove Chidimma Adetshina Onwe from Miss SA,” she explained.
Anele also quoted former President Thabo Mbeki, saying “South Africans are told by foreigners that they are xenophobic, and they believe it.”
She believes this statement explains why many South Africans feel pressured to stay silent on these issues.
“It is about neutralising and desensitising us into giving in, letting foreigners do as they please without being called out,” she said.
Immigration expert Gary Eisenberg explained to eNCA that South African citizenship laws have changed over time.
“Before 1 January 2013, if a person was born in South Africa to a single permanent resident parent, that person was born a South African citizen. After 1 January 2013, at least one parent must be a South African citizen for the child to gain citizenship by birth,” Eisenberg said.
Adetshina’s mother is understood to be a South African citizen with Mozambican roots, so she qualifies for citizenship by birth.
Anele also added that “Chidimma has many opportunities awaiting her to explore in however way she wants to fulfil her dreams but that can never be at the expense of South African women who would never ascend to any castle and dethrone Nigerian women in spaces meant specifically for them,” she said.
IOL