South Africa’s status as this year’s Country-in-Focus has been revoked by the Puebla International Literature Festival.
Following the abuse of Chidimma Adetshina and her family, the organizers declared on Thursday night that they had also revoked the invitation of the South African visitors.
This is in response to Adetshina, a finalist for Miss South Africa, announcing her withdrawal from the pageant.
atmosphere of “mob rule”
The director of the Puebla International Literature Festival, Ikenna Okeh, stated in a statement made public on X that the decision was reached after giving considerable thought to recent events that have greatly alarmed the African community.
“We acknowledge with sadness the upsetting events that have occurred in South Africa, where a climate of mob rule has been made possible by the state apparatuses and the troubling silence of many within the cultural sphere.”
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Chidimma Adetshina
This has undermined the fundamental ideals of justice, equality, and human dignity that literature aspires to preserve by making Chidimma Adetshina, her family, and members of immigrant communities in South Africa victims.
“We cannot honor a nation as the center of our celebration when it is currently embroiled in such profound injustice as has been gaining momentum since the Miss South Africa beauty pageantry,” the organization continued.
Adetshina withdrew when Home Affairs looked into whether or not her citizenship was verified in response to a request from the Miss South Africa organizers.
DHA Minister Leon Schreiber claimed in a statement that as part of the fraud that Adetshina’s mother is accused of committing, an innocent South African mother’s identity was taken.
“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,” said the minister.
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Alleged Identity Theft Linked to Miss South Africa 2024 Contestant’s Citizenship. Photocredit-Meta
