Following a controversial Miss South Africa beauty pageant competition, 28-year-old Mia Le Roux, a deaf woman, was given the crown.
According to reports, during her acceptance speech, she hoped her victory would help those who felt excluded from society achieve their wildest dreams. She also expressed her desire to help those who were “financially excluded or differently abled.”
Le Roux was diagnosed with profound hearing loss when she was just a year old. She has a cochlear implant to help her perceive sound. Before she could say her first words, it took two years of speech therapy and constant practice, reported the BBC.
She said to the BBC, “I am a proudly South African deaf woman, and I know what it feels like to be excluded. I know now that I was put on this planet to break boundaries, and I did it tonight.”
After 23-year-old finalist Chidimma Adetshina withdrew owing to criticism about her Nigerian heritage and claims about her mother’s identity, Le Roux was named the pageant winner. Interestingly, Adetshina’s family was from Mozambique, a country in East Africa, although she was born in South Africa to a Nigerian father and a South African mother.
For several weeks, she was the hot topic on social media in which numerous people—including a cabinet minister questioned her eligibility to serve as the nation’s representative. She claimed she had been the victim of “black-on-black hate,” referring to a specific strain of xenophobia in South Africa known as “afrophobia,” which targets people from other African countries.
Before leaving the competition, Chidimma Adetshina, posted on Instagram, “I would like to start off by thanking everyone who has stood beside me right from the start of my Miss South Africa journey. I’m really grateful for all the love and support I have been shown.”
She further added, “Being part of the Miss South Africa 2024 competition has been an amazing journey however, after much careful consideration, I have made the difficult decision to withdraw myself from the competition for the safety and wellbeing of my family and I. With the support of the Miss South Africa Organisation, I leave with a heart full of gratitude for this amazing experience. I would like to take this opportunity to wish my fellow finalists all of the best for the remainder of the competition. Whoever wears the crown represents us all.”
Source: Hindustan Times