Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton Mckenzie has applauded his colleague in Ministry, Leon Schreiber and his team following their findings on the recent investigations done to determine whether Miss South Africa contestant is, in fact, South African.
This follows weeks of online bullying and xenophobic remarks aimed at the 23-year-old pageant finalist regarding her nationality.
Earlier this week the newly elected minister of the Department of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber revealed that the Miss South Africa organisation has reached out to his department to do a thorough investigation into her origins ahead of the grand finale which takes place on Saturday, 10 August. This was done as a precautionary measure to ensure that she would be legally eligible to run as Miss SA should she win.
It was further indicated that both Chidimma as well as her mother have given their consent for the investigation to proceed. Leon, meanwhile added that the rest of South Africa would continuously be informed of the developments as they occur.
On Wednesday he did just that. Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) he revealed that his department delved into every department available from hospitals to site visits to verify whether the information was correct.
While the process is still ongoing, he has since revealed that Prima facie reasons exist suggesting that Chidimma’s mother has committed identity theft.
He stated:
“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’s mother.
He further added, “ Adetshina could not have participated in the unlawful actions of her mother as she was still an infant at the time that the activities took place in 2001.”
Leon has indicated that a South African mother whose identity was stolen could not register her child and has suffered as a result.
The minister said that investigations will continue and that action will be taken against all parties involved.
Following the revelation, the Patriotic Alliance leader whose party strongly condemned the presence of illegal foreigners in South Africa has since shared his opinion on the matter.
Taking to X, Gayton wrote: “Our next step is to find the South African mother who suffered because her child’s identity was stolen.
“Thank you, Minister Leon Schreiber. Let’s blow open this whole racket and arrests should surely follow.”
I wanna thank all Patriotic South Africans who stood by me when I was called all sorts of names. Words will fail to adequately describe my gratitude. We met with Sun International today & they explained that they are not the owners of pageant anymore. We meeting owners tomorrow.
— Gayton McKenzie (@GaytonMcK) August 7, 2024
Also see: Miss SA turns to Home Affairs to confirm Chidimma’s eligibility ahead of grand finale
