South African singer, radio and television host, Unathi Nkayi recently appeared on MacG’s Podcast and Chill, where she shared her thoughts on the controversy that was surrounding former Miss South Africa 2024 contestant, Chidimma Adetshina.
The 23-year-old Chidimma Adetshina caused quite the stir on social media after making her debut on television as a Miss SA 2024 contestant.
Nkayi shared that Adetshina, who made it as far as the Top 11 in the Miss SA beauty pageant, was raised in the country as a South African and was born and raised in South Africa.
“I guess for me the interesting thing is that Miss SA is privately owned, you know it is not a government state or it does not belong to any public entities. Do we really have a say? Do they care? Don’t they care?” she said.
Nkayi further mentioned that she understands that people on social media were concerned about the cultural representation, who Adetshina will represent in this case since she does not have any South African cultural background.
The 48-year-old former Idols South Africa judge said, “I get why people are up in arms but I also get why people are saying she is ours because she is and we raised her.”
She further stated that South Africans must learn to heal and forgive people from other African countries.
“There is a lot of unforgiving characters about us sometimes as South Africans because we are so triggered and hurt.”
“And I just think that we need to forgive and allow people to show remorse,” she emphasised.
South Africans questioned Adetshina’s identity and went as far as creating petitions for Adetshina to be removed from the pageant.
The matter quickly escalated as far as her and her family being investigated by Home Affairs which found prima facie evidence that Adetshina’s mother may have committed identity fraud 23 years ago.
This revelation forced Adetshina to withdraw from the competition. She pulled out of the competition two days before the finale of Miss SA 2024, releasing a statement saying that the entire matter was affecting her and her family’s safety.
IOL