Cape Town — The Department of Home Affairs has responded to ActionSA’s concerns regarding Chidimma Adetshina’s mother, who travelled to Nigeria while Adetshina participated in and won the Miss Universe Nigeria pageant.
Adetshina’s citizenship came under scrutiny due to her Nigerian father and South African mother.
A Home Affairs investigation revealed that her mother was a suspect in a fraud and corruption scandal . Adetshina withdrew from the Miss SA pageant to compete in Miss Universe Nigeria, where she was crowned this past weekend.
According to The Citizen, both Adetshina and her mother received Promotion of Administrative Justice Act letters from the Department of Home Affairs. Department spokesperson Duwayne Esau said that the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (The Hawks) has taken over the case and noted that the letters were issued prior to the retrieval of the alleged fraudulent IDs and passports.
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ActionSA sent a letter to the Department of Home Affairs seeking clarification on how Adetshina’s mother was able to travel to Nigeria while the investigation was still ongoing. The party’s chief whip, Lerato Ngobeni, stated that, given the nature of the investigation, travel restrictions should have been expected.
“It is therefore alarming that the main subject of this ongoing investigation was seen in Nigeria this past weekend during a televised broadcast of Miss Universe Nigeria,” Ngobeni said.
She also referenced a 2022 report by the Ministerial Committee on the issuing of Permits and Visas, which revealed that 12,177 out of 36,647 fraudulent applications originated from Nigeria.
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“ActionSA believes these alarming figures highlight widespread efforts to undermine South Africa’s immigration regime and sovereignty and therefore demands that the government not take a lax approach to enforcing our laws,” Ngobeni said.
In response, Esau refuted ActionSA’s claims, stating that the document holders could continue to use them until officially withdrawn by the department, IOL reported.
“This step is a step before the IDs and passports can be retrieved. The owners of these documents can use them until they have been withdrawn by the department,” he said.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
