Johannesburg,South Africa

The Department of Home Affairs has confirmed that its investigation involving Miss South Africa contestant Chidimma Adetshina's citizenship has discovered that her mother committed fraud and identity theft in 2001 while she was an infant.

The organisers of the Miss South Africa were forced by the public outcry to request the Department of Home Affairs to investigate the citizenship of the 23-year-old Miss SA finalist Chidimma Vanessa Adetshina because there were loopholes on her claims to be a South African citizen.

The department has revealed that it conducted an investigation after receiving a request from Miss SA,as well as consent provided by the contestant and her mother.

The DHA said on 05 August 2024,the organisers of the event sent the Department a request to verify the citizenship of a contestant,Chidimma Adetshina.This request was accompanied by written consent from both Adetshina and her mother.

According to DHA,upon receiving this request,the Department deployed every resource at its disposal to establish the truth.This has included archival research,visits to hospitals,and site visits to verify information.

The department's findings revealed that the mother of Adetshina stole an identity of South African woman to register her daughter as South African and the department absolved Chidimma because when that fraudulent activities occurred she was a child.

The department has promised to dig deeper during investigation because wants to arrest all officials who participated in that fraud,and the department maintained that a South African woman could not register her own child due to identity theft.

Below is Department of Home Affairs detailed and damned findings pertaining to the citizenship of Chidimma Adetshina:

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 Adetshina's mother;

Adetshina could not have participated in the alleged unlawful actions of her mother,as she was an infant at the time when the activities took place in 2001;

An innocent South African mother,whose identity may have been stolen as part of the alleged fraud committed by Adetshina's mother,suffered as a result because she could not register her child;

The Department has broadened its investigation to identify and pursue any officials involved in the alleged fraudulent scheme,and is obtaining legal advice on the implications of the alleged fraudulent activity on Adetshina's citizenship status;and

Upon the completion of the investigation,Home Affairs intends to press criminal charges against all implicated parties.

Following this new saga,the Department has maintained there is an urgent need to modernise the Home Affairs applications system to curb a scourge of identity theft and duplicates which is on the rise in this country.

"This case,which stems from alleged fraudulent activities committed 23 years ago,highlights the urgent need for the digital modernisation of Home Affairs applications,adjudication and verification process,to insulate the Department against fraudulent interference,similar to the reforms undertaken at the South African Revenue Service in the late 2000s.

"The case also highlights the reason for the Department's blocking of certain duplicate IDs,and that the court-ordered unblocking of these documents must be handled with caution.

Throughout this process,Home Affairs is guided by our commitment to both restoring and upholding the rule of the law as well as the rights of all parties,"the department concluded.