In a first amid controversy, a 28-year-old deaf woman was crowned Miss South Africa.

After a contentious competition, a 28-year-old woman became the first deaf person to be crowned Miss South Africa, according to a report in the BBC. In her winning speech, Mia Le Roux—who was diagnosed with profound hearing loss at the age of one—expressed her hope that her achievement will encourage those who feel marginalized to follow their "wildest dreams, just like I am." Furthermore, she expressed her desire to assist people who were "financially excluded or differently abled".

After 23-year-old finalist Chidimma Adetshina withdrew owing to criticism about her Nigerian heritage and claims about her mother's identity, Ms. Le Roux was named the pageant winner. Interestingly, Ms. Adetshina was born in South Africa to a South African mother and a Nigerian father  African mother, but the family came from Mozambique.

The head of the Patriotic Alliance party and South Africa's minister of culture, Gayton McKenzie, also questioned Ms. Adetshina's eligibility to compete. "We honestly cannot allow Nigerians to participate in our Miss SA pageant. It feels funny already, but I want to get all the information before I remark," he stated on X.

The gathering, according to Ms. Adetshina, felt like "black-on-black hate," drawing attention to the particular kind of xenophobia known as "Afrophobia" that is practiced in South Africa and targets other Africans. She claimed that out of the 16 women competitors, she was the only one receiving the majority of the criticism, despite the fact that other participants had names that were European and South Asian.

On August 6, the nation's Home Affairs Minister, Leon Schreiber, announced that the department was looking into her citizenship at the Miss South Africa organization's request. "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," the ministry stated after the probe. According to the Guardian, the statement further stated, "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 23-year-old announced her decision to resign from the competition on Instagram on August 8. "After giving it a lot of thought, I have decided to step away from the competition in order to protect my family's safety and wellbeing. I go with a heart full of thanks for this incredible experience, with the full support of the Miss South Africa Organization," she added.