Pearl Thusi speaks on Miss SA Chidimma nationality drama

by Limpho Nonkonyane

Actress and DJ Pearl Thusi rallies behind controversial Miss South Africa 2024 contestant Chidimma Vanessa Onwe Adetshina over her nationality.

Chidimma is in the top 11 in the race to be crowned the next Miss SA and has been getting a lot of backlash from social media users due to her nationality, as they felt that she needed to be a South African citizen to compete in the country.

However, Miss SA has clarified that Chidimma meets the citizenship requirements as she has the necessary documents, including a valid South African ID or passport, to be eligible for the competition.

This issue has sparked debate over whether Chidimma should continue to compete, given that her parents are of foreign descent.

Many celebrities have then come forward to share their thoughts on this debate. Pearl Thusi took to her social media to say that Chidimma should compete regardless of where she is from.

In a video posted on social media, Pearl said, “She was born and raised in South Africa, therefore she is a South African. She can’t call Nigeria home, even though her parents may be Nigerian or wherever they may be from. That is beside the point.”

She adds that if Chidimma were to compete in the Olympics and win a gold medal, then South Africans would claim her instead of bashing her.

“If she was a white girl and she was half French, half something else, you guys might have never even noticed, but because her name is what it is now it’s a big deal.

“But you guys have people in our cricket teams, in our parliament and different sectors of the South African ecosystem whose parents are not South African but they were born here, that you may know or may never know of, and this girl has to suffer because she is black, and she’s female and it is a pageant?” she says.

This video caused many X (formerly known as Twitter) users to say that Pearl was trying too hard to be relevant.

One user said:

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