Beauty queen row exposes xenophobia towards immigrants in South Africa

When Chidimma Adetshina entered Miss South Africa, she dreamed of being crowned and going on to represent – at the Miss Universe contest in November – the country she had lived in since birth. What she didn’t expect was a furious backlash that would end up with her winning the right to represent Nigeria instead.

A saga over the 23-year-old law student’s nationality has exposed a deep vein of xenophobia in South Africa against immigrants from other African countries that has festered since the end of apartheid, feeding off endemic unemployment, poverty and inequality, and periodically exploding into violence.

After she made it to the last 16 of Miss South Africa in July, Adetshina suffered weeks of online hatred triggered by her Nigerian name and father, with politicians and talk shows questioning whether she was South African. On 8 August, she withdrew from the competition , saying she needed to protect herself and her family after the home affairs ministry said her mother may have committed fraud and stolen the identity of a South African woman. A ministry spokesperson said this is now being investigated by police.

Related: Miss South Africa contestant faces backlash over Nigerian father

Adetshina was then invited to take part in Miss Universe Nigeria, and took the crown last weekend . “At first, I didn’t want to accept [the invitation to compete]. I felt like I wasn’t in a good mental space,” she told the Observer . “I reconsidered because I felt it was a second chance in life.”

“It has been a really exhausting journey, so I think I struggle to express my excitement. But I’m really excited and I’m really proud.”

For Mike, a Nigerian hairdresser in Johannesburg who has lived in the country since 2016, Adetshina’s experiences reminded him of his own struggles. “The way people treat us is not fair,” he said, adding that he was imprisoned for four months in 2021. “The immigration guy that arrested me said to me… my crime was not because of my [immigration] papers, my crime was because I was married to his sister. They really hate us.”

South Africa has long imported migrant labour, particularly to work in its mines. After white minority rule ended, it became a more attractive destination for people from other African countries. There were push factors, too, such as hyperinflation and political repression in neighbouring Zimbabwe in the late 2000s.

South Africa’s foreign-born population grew faster than total population between 1996 and 2011, more than doubling to 2.2 million and 4.2% of the population, according to census data. Those born outside the country (some naturalised citizens) now make up 3.9% of the 62 million population.

As the promise that the end of apartheid would lead to better lives for all has faded, anti-immigrant sentiment has risen. In a 2022 Afrobarometer survey , more than 60% disagreed with a statement that migrants should be welcomed as they helped to fill job vacancies.

“Often South Africans are very disillusioned and frustrated with their material circumstances,” said Nomathamsanqa Masiko-Mpaka, a researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Who do you then blame? Those who are most vulnerable. And those are usually migrants because they are scapegoated for all our economic woes, our social ills,” she said.

“It is clear the main problem is not immigrants, but something else,” said Loren Landau, a University of Oxford professor, pointing to the high unemployment rate of black South Africans – currently 37.6% – compared with the proportion of immigrants.

Anti-African immigrant sentiment has periodically erupted into violence. In 2008, 62 people, including 21 South Africans, were killed and more than 150,000 displaced. Another outbreak of violence in 2015 saw at least five killed and thousands displaced.

In 2022 and 2023, a group called Operation Dudula – whose name means “to force out” in Zulu – staged protests against illegal immigration , including stopping pregnant women from entering a hospital. Isaac Lesole, the deputy secretary-general of Operation Dudula, said his organisation supported skilled migration not “illegality” and what he said was an oversupply of immigrant labour in sectors including private security.

Operation Dudula is now a political party but failed to win any seats in the 2024 elections. This did not reflect a lack of support for its message, Lesole said, pointing to the Patriotic Alliance party, which wants mass deportations of illegal immigrants and went from zero to nine national legislators on 2% of the vote.

Adetshina blamed the Patriotic Alliance leader, Gayton McKenzie, who had called for her nationality to be investigated, for her decision to withdraw from Miss South Africa, saying he had contributed to her safety fears. “What he did to me was really unfair,” she said.

McKenzie, who is the current arts, culture and sports minister, had claimed vindication, saying that his concern is for the woman whose identity Adetshina’s mother allegedly stole.

Adetshina said she had not spoken to her mother or other relatives about the investigation as she wanted to focus on the competition, adding: “I don’t really know the facts around the whole case, so that’s why I don’t want to comment.”

Newly crowned as Miss Universe Nigeria, Adetshina said she hoped her story would help others with mixed heritage who were afraid of discrimination: “I’m proud of my diverse background. I just hope we can learn to understand one another.”