Chidimma Adetshina’s mother goes MIA as officials go looking for her
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) has been called in to investigate potential fraudulent activities related to the citizenship status of former Miss South Africa contestant Chidimma Adetshina.
During a presentation to parliament’s home affairs portfolio committee on Tuesday, the department reiterated that there are prima facie reasons to believe that fraud and identity theft may have been committed by the individual recorded as Adetshina’s mother. Adetshina’s father is also under investigation for his involvement in her birth registration.
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Advocate Constance Moitse, head of the department’s counter-corruption unit, informed MPs that evidence obtained from hospitals, the department’s archives, and municipalities points to a legitimate South African whose identity may have been stolen. The evidence suggests that fraud and identity theft were likely committed.
As part of the investigation, the department attempted to contact Adetshina’s mother by phone, but their calls eventually went unanswered. When officials visited her listed home address, she was not present, and her family directed them to her lawyers.
The department is currently awaiting a response from Adetshina’s mother to a letter issued on August 7 under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act. The response will guide the department’s next steps regarding the ID in her possession. The act ensures that administrative actions are lawful, reasonable, and procedurally fair, and provides the right to written reasons for such actions.
Moitse revealed that three officials were involved in registering the birth at the department’s Johannesburg office. One of these officials has since passed away, but the department is investigating the other two, who are still employed by the department, for their possible involvement in the alleged fraudulent scheme.
The department’s records show that the South African mother whose identity may have been stolen was registered by her own mother in 1982 and subsequently entered into the National Population Register. Her birth was recorded in Tshwane, and she applied for an ID in 1995.
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“Upon returning to home affairs, she discovered that her ID had been issued in Johannesburg at an office where she had not applied,” said Moitse. When the woman gave birth in 2001 and attempted to register her child, she found that a child, Chidimma Vanessa Onwe Adetshina, had already been registered under her ID number.
The woman spent several months trying to obtain a new identity number.
When the department reviewed its archives, they found the documents used by the legitimate owner of the ID during her application process, but could not locate any documents related to Adetshina’s mother.
During a visit to the addresses associated with both Adetshina’s mother and the legitimate ID owner, the department found that the information provided by the family of the woman whose ID was stolen matched the records in their system.
An innocent South African mother, whose identity may have been stolen as part of the alleged fraud by Adetshina’s mother, suffered as a result, as she was unable to register her own child, Moitse added.
The department has sought a legal opinion on Chidimma’s legal status. Although she is currently registered as a South African, her status could be revoked if her mother’s citizenship is found to be fraudulent. If this occurs, Chidimma would also lose her South African citizenship.
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