Deaf Woman Crowned Miss South Africa In Contentious Contest

Mia le Roux emerged victorious as the first deaf person to be crowned Miss South Africa in a highly controversial pageant that saw one contender leave due to trolling regarding her Nigerian origin.

During her acceptance speech, the newly crowned Miss South Africa expressed her wish that people who felt left out of society would be inspired to pursue their “wildest dreams, just like I am” in light of her success. She stated that her goal was to help “financially excluded or differently abled” people.

Chidimma Adetshina, a 23-year-old law student, withdrew from the competition last week due to claims that her mother may have stolen a South African woman’s identity.

Ms Adetshina’s mother is from Mozambique, while her father is from Nigeria. She was born in South Africa. For many weeks, she was the focus of a social media storm in which numerous people—including a cabinet minister—questioned her eligibility to serve as the nation’s representative.

She claimed to be the victim of “black-on-black hate”, drawing attention to the specific kind of xenophobia known as “Afrophobia” that exists in South Africa and targets other African nationals.

Mia (middle) stands with two other contestants

Ms. Le Roux, 28, has a cochlear implant to aid in her perception of sound. She was diagnosed with significant hearing loss at the age of one. She claimed that before she could pronounce her first words, she had to do speech treatment for two years.

The just-declared Miss South Africa said, “I am a proudly South African deaf woman and I know what it feels like to be excluded,” after winning, I now understand that I was sent here to push limits, and tonight I accomplished just that.”

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