Vanessa Chidimma Adetshina (Chichi Vanessa) is a South African born of Nigerian and Mozambiqan roots who is well known for making it to the top 13 finalist of Miss South Africa. She is netball player, model and law student. Most South Africans were not happy to see Vanessa contesting for Miss South Africa while she has Nigerian and Mozambiqan roots despite her being born in Soweto, South Africa. The world at large has criticized South Africans of being xenophobic for this matter. Vanessa is 23 years old in 2024 this means she was born in 2001.
Biography Profile
Full name: Vanessa Chidimma Onwe Adetshina
Known as: Chichi Vanessa
Date of birth: 2001
Age: 23 years old
Birth place: Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa
Education: Law student at Varsity College
Occupation: Model, Influencer, Netball player
Nationality: South African, Nigerian
Early life of Vanessa Chidimma Adetshina
Vanessa Chidimma Onwe Adetshina was born in 2001 at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto to a Nigerian father and a South African mother of Mozambican descent. Her parents met in the 90s in Johannesburg and they lived in Pimville (her maternal grandmother’s home). Vanessa Chidimma was raised in Soweto where she did her basic education but her family later moved to Cape Town.
In an interview with Sowetan SMag, she revealed that being raised in a multi-national home gave her an all-round view of the different cultures in the diaspora and how both her origins give her a sense of pride as a South African.
Education of Chichi Vanessa
Vanessa is studying for Bachelor of Law at Varsity College. She is passionate for change on violence against woman and children and gender-based violence. Her choice of education does reflect she would want to represent abused women and children in the near future.
Career of Chichi Vanessa Chidimma Adetshina
Vanessa is still a Law student but she is currently occupied as a Netball player who at some point playing for Western Cape province. She is also a model who has grabbed the opportunity to participate in Miss South Africa’s beauty pageant. She has so far made it to the top 13 finalist of 2024 Miss South Africa. Her rise to the top in the beauty pageant has led her to be discriminated by other South Africans in a xenophobic way because of her parent’s nationality.
Suffering discrimination in South Africa
Chichi has suffered a lot of discrimination growing up in South Africa because of her parent’s nationality and her Nigerian names. She said she has experienced discrimination mostly when she played Netball for Western Province. Other people felt she was not South African enough to take part in sports competition as a South African. The intensity of her discrimination reached its peak when she took part in Miss South Africa’s beauty pageant competition where she made it to the top 16 then to the top 13 finalists.
At first she ignored the criticism and discrimination against her but as she progressed through the competition, criticism grew day by day. She feels she is a proud South African who is representing her country but her own people (South Africans) are not supporting her. Only few celebrities and politicians did support her, the likes of Julius Malema, Pearl Thusi and others, but Minister of sports, Gayton Mckenzie said he will look into the matter and will not allow Nigerians to take part in Miss South Africa while they have their own daughters.
The world at large has criticized South Africans of being xenophobic for this matter including Zimbabwean Journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono who pointed out that the South African government is full of politicians of foreign roots but they are not being persecuted because they are whites.
