Can South Africans fight for their country without being labelled xenophobic?
I first heard about the Miss South Africa debacle after a Tweet started trending from a concerned South African activist questioning the fairness of allowing a "non-South African" to enter the pageant. Anele Mda used a popular song by Thandiswa Mazwai, Nizalwa Ngobani, in a video with the email she sent to the pageant organisers in her Tweet protesting the decision to allow a contestant whose parents are not South African to enter and compete in the Miss South Africa pageant. She called on the pageant to keep the competition exclusively for South Africans. As soon as Thandiswa caught wind of the letter on X, she rebuked Mda's message not wanting her song to be used with her letter as it does not align with her beliefs. Thandiswa is known to be pro-Pan-Africanism and this letter seemed to have the opposite message.
As the post and Thandiswa's response gained traction, many questions arose like if an artist has a right to decide how their music is used by the public, who's the real activist, what's Pan-Africanism, etc.
A Name Earned
What wasn't surprising is how quickly people turned to name-calling - mainly that South Africans are xenophobic. This wasn't anything new and it stemmed from incidents that had happened in the past where (Black) South Africans either verbally or physically attacked a (Black) person or people of other African nations for reasons connected to unemployment in the country that has led to the looting of stores owned by foreign nationals, foreign-owned stores in the townships selling expired foods to locals, or even South African men loathing South African women for entering into relationships with foreign nationals. Unfortunately, in some instances South Africans have violently responded with xenophobic attacks even against innocent foreign nationals.
And thanks to social media, any time these incidents happened they would make their way online and the name-calling arrows were launched. Before looking into what constitutes a South African citizen, while following the conversation online, I didn't understand why non-South Africans were offended that the competition was meant for South Africans - meaning that only South Africans could participate, hence it's called Miss South Africa. Every country has opportunities exclusively meant for locals, particularly platforms that would call for the winner to represent the country in international spaces, like the Olympics for instance. So why is it different when South Africa practices this rule?
South African Citizenship
The pageant contestant, Chidimma Adetshina, although born in South Africa, both her parents are foreign nationals - her father being Nigerian and her mother Mozambiquan. While she was trending online, her citizenship came into question. News soon broke that the Miss SA competition, with permission from Chidimma and her mother, contacted the Home Affairs Department to verify her citizenship. The department announced on 7 August 2024 through a press release that her mother committed fraud and identity theft to acquire her identity documents. Even worse was how it was discovered that the woman whose identity was stolen suffered as she couldn't register her child. The department committed to broadening its investigation into officials involved and pressing criminal charges against those implicated.
While South Africans zoomed in on this astonishing update, the debate that South Africans are xenophobic was going strong. I decided to turn to the law to help solve this issue, but things became even more hazy. According to Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Njabulo Nzuza, a person is considered a South African citizen if they are born to at least one South African parent. However, Professor Thuli Madonsela, former Public Protector, posted on her X account that "...based on applying section (2)(1) of the Citizenship Act (88) of 1995...Ms Chidimma Vanessa Adetshina is a South African by birth lawfully participating in the Miss South Africa competition. Should she win, she is entitled to represent us as Miss South Africa. As indicated yesterday, your parents need not been South African for you to be a citizen by birth." So who's interpreting the law correctly?
Identity Fraud On Steroids
As South Africans turn the conversation to identity fraud crimes in this country that have left many suffering and put the spotlight on the Department of Home Affairs, South Africans were being turned away from international events, like the Puebla International Literature Festival for being xenophobic. It's important to note that the real issue here is how identity fraud has increased by 356% according to the Southern African Fraud Prevention Services (SAFPS) between April 2022 and April 2023. In this article by Law For All, it is said to cost South Africa R1 billion annually. Experts also say South Africa tops the list on the continent with the highest ID (Identity Document) fraud attacks. And yet, in the face of such staggering statistics, xenophobia remains the running theme anytime South Africans say anything to try to defend themselves or their country. Xenophobia indeed exists in this country, however, it's not true about all South Africans and it's certainly not the case with every national issue.
It needs to be said that citizens of a country cannot be shut down every time they need to speak up about issues that affect them or their country. Name-calling will not get a country or continent anywhere if every debate is turned into a racial or nationality squabble. Although what's happened to Chidimma is sad, her story has pulled the curtain on a crime that's hardly spoken about in South Africa and has left many unregistered to miss out on opportunities to learn or become employed in the country. This is the real issue. The Department of Home Affairs must urgently tackle identity fraud head-on and take responsibility for those who've suffered and gone unnoticed.
