A 28-year-old woman has become the first deaf person to be crowned Miss South Africa following a divisive competition, according to a report. BBCMia Le Roux, who was diagnosed with severe hearing loss at the age of one, hoped in her victory speech that her success would inspire others who feel excluded to pursue their “biggest dreams, just like I am.” She also said she wanted to help those who are “financially excluded or differently abled”.
Ms Le Roux was declared the winner of the competition after 23-year-old finalist Chidinma Adetshina withdrew from the competition amid criticism about her Nigerian origins and allegations about her mother’s identity. Notably, Ms Adetshina was born in South Africa to a Nigerian father and South African mother, but her family came from Mozambique.
South Africa’s Culture Minister and leader of the Patriotic Alliance party, Gayton McKenzie, has also questioned Ms Adeteshina’s identity. “We can’t really let Nigerians take part in the Miss SA contest. I want to know all the facts before I comment, but it already looks weird,” he said on X.
Ms Adetshina said the whole programme seemed like “black-on-black hate”, drawing attention to a specific form of xenophobia called “Afrophobia” that exists in South Africa and targets other Africans. She said although there were other contestants with South Asian and European names among the 16 women, it was she who received the most criticism.
The country’s Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said on August 6 that the department was investigating her citizenship at the request of the Miss South Africa Organization. Following the investigation, the ministry revealed: “Prima facie reasons exist to believe that fraud and identity theft may have been committed by the person listed as Chidinma Adetshina’s mother in Home Affairs records.” The Guardian, “An innocent South African mother, whose identity was possibly stolen as part of the alleged fraud committed by Adetshin’s mother, suffered as she was unable to register her child,” the statement said.
On August 8, the 23-year-old announced her decision to withdraw from the competition on Instagram. “After much consideration I have made the difficult decision to remove myself from the competition for the safety and wellbeing of my family and myself. With the full support of the Miss South Africa Organisation, I leave with a heart full of gratitude for this amazing experience,” she wrote.
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Meanwhile, Ms Le Roux uses a cochlear implant to improve her hearing. She claimed she had to undergo speech therapy for two years before she could utter her first words. The model, who is also a marketing manager, said: “I am a proud South African deaf woman and I know what it feels like to be ostracised. I now know I was put on this planet to break boundaries and I did that tonight.”
