‘Do not allow Chidimma to be victimised’: Mbalula urges Schreiber and Miss SA to speak on eligibility

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has implored Miss SA organisers and home affairs minister Leon Schreiber to not be bystanders but clarify the law as competition contestant Chidimma Vanessa Adetshina's eligibility continues to stir national debate. 

Adetshina has been in the spotlight for weeks with some people arguing she is not the best ambassador for brand South Africa and should not compete for the Miss SA title. 

She is a South African, born to a Nigerian father and a mother of Mozambican descent. 

Speaking during a media briefing on Thursday on the sidelines of the national working committee meeting, Mbalula said Schreiber and Miss SA organisers needed to stop being mum on the issue and clarify what the law stipulates regarding Adetshina’s eligibility.   

“We must not be populists, we must be guided by the laws of this country. The organisers of Miss SA are quiet, and they allowed this girl to be attacked. Schreiber, the DA minister, must clarify this issue so they do not allow victimisation. I have seen comparisons that have been made such as Vanessa Carrera [Miss SA 2001] being Portuguese and all of that. Those issues need to be addressed,” he said.

It is important for the government to speak out on the matter as it put focus on immigration laws, he said, adding that the debate was a vital moment for the government to educate the public about how a person gets to be recognised as a citizen.

“This matter puts a focus on immigration laws and where it places us. Is she entitled to participate? We need to clarify that issue so that we do not allow Chidimma to be victimised.

“Organisers and the government must clarify that issue. She was born here, we must clarify that. What is the law saying? We must not have an unending debate.  It is a sensitive issue and it must be clarified.”

He believed the debate was also a result of brewing social competition between South Africa and Nigeria with Adetshina caught in the middle.

“You know Nigerians are forward, they are going to say, ‘we have a Miss South Africa’,” he said jokingly. “When we argue with them about Amapiano [SA music genre] they say that the genre is theirs. By the way, they came up with a good genre, Afro-pop. They were hitting us nicely and we enjoyed ourselves.

“When it was our turn Nigerians claimed Amapiano. The Nigerian economy was the No 1 economy in Africa and we overtook it, they complained. You know this is the competition that goes on between South Africa and Nigeria.”

Mbalula said debate about immigrants in South Africa has become sensitive because of some foreign nationals linked to crime.

“It has intensified because of the criminal behaviour of some foreigners in our country.”

In April, former police minister Bheki Cele presented a report which detailed South Africa's prisons having almost 14,000 foreigners and about 144,000 South Africans. Based on the stats, Cele said, it was not true that foreigners were the “main perpetrators” of crime in South Africa.

The debate is gaining momentum in the political arena. Earlier this week, the EFF’s Naledi Chirwa criticised sport, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie’s remarks on the debate.

The debate had intensified after a video of Adetshina surfaced, celebrating her entry to the competition. She was seen celebrating with people dressed in Nigerian traditional clothing.

McKenzie said: “We truly cannot have Nigerians compete in our Miss SA competition. I want to get all the facts before I comment but it gives funny vibes already.”

Chirwa did not take McKenzie’s remarks lightly and criticised him on social media. 

“You [McKenzie] don’t respect South African laws. You are not ‘patriotic’ at all. You don’t know the South African constitution. You don’t respect the South African governance office at (the) executive level. You do not know South African history,” Chirwa said. 

Chirwa said McKenzie’s response to the debate about Adetshina insinuated he did not take Adetshina's holistic identity into consideration and only spoke about her Nigerian bloodline.

“It is always black women that you target and bully. Everybody else gets a pass. White men get a pass. White women get a pass. Black men get a pass. You hate black women. Black women’s history matters. Our lineage matters. The children we birth are ours too.”