Johannesburg – Amid a brewing storm over her ‘actual’ nationality, top 11 Miss South Africa (Miss SA) 2024 finalist Chidimma Adetshina remains steadfast as she dances and sings along to a feel good love song ‘Ogechi‘ by Nigerian artist Brown Joel – as seen in her recent TikTok post.
In the song Brown expresses his deep affection and devotion to a girl named ‘Ogechi’ and declares his love in multiple Nigerian languages, combining elements of Igbo, Yoruba, and Pidgin English.
Adetshina’s TikTok video, as seen below, comes amid mixed reactions over her eligibility to participate in the Miss SA 2024 beauty pageant, with many South Africans calling for her disqualification (per launch of a change.org petition which had gathered close to 10 000 signatures before it was suddenly removed Friday evening).
Born to a Nigerian father and a mother of Mozambican descent, according to several media reports, the 23-year-old beauty queen is facing backlash after making it to the top 13 of the Miss SA 2024 pageant.
However, many more South Africans, majority of who are of mixed heritage, have come out in support of the Soweto-born beauty, arguing that she’s a South African national, in line with the rules of the Miss SA – with Adetshina herself describing the backlash she’s received in recent media interviews as “black-on-black hate”.
“I feel the attention is on me because of my skin colour, which I think is a disadvantage. It’s also been something I had to overcome growing up,” she told The Times.
In her defence, per email sent to NOWinSA, Janine Walker, from the Miss South Africa PR company maintains due diligence was done to ensure Adetshina’s eligibility. “Documentation provided by the entrants is screened and vetted by the Miss South Africa Organization, ” she said in a statement.
“Any Miss South Africa applicant must be a South African citizen and in possession of a valid South African ID document or passport. If an applicant holds dual citizenship, details of both have to be provided to the Miss South Africa Organisation” – Miss SA Organization.