The Puebla International Literature Festival has revoked South Africa’s accreditation as this year’s Country-in-Focus.
On Thursday evening, the organizers declared that they had revoked the invitation of South African guests due to the victimization of Chidimma Adetshina and her family.
This comes after Adetshina, a Miss South Africa finalist, announced her withdrawal from the competition.
Puebla International Literature Festival director Ikenna Okeh posted a statement on X, stating that the decision was reached after careful consideration of recent happenings that have gravely concerned the African community.
“It is with a sense of sadness that we acknowledge the distressing events in South Africa, where the apparatuses of the state, coupled with the troubling silence of many within the cultural sphere, have enabled a climate of mob rule.”
“This has led to the victimisation of Chidimma Adetshina, her family, and members of immigrant communities in South Africa, thus undermining the very principles of justice, equality, and human dignity that literature seeks to uphold.
“We cannot, in good conscience, honour a country as a focal point of our celebration when it is currently embroiled in such profound injustice as has been currently gathering momentum following the Miss South Africa beauty pageantry,” the organisation added.
Adetshina’s withdrawal comes after the probe of Home Affairs into the verification of her citizenship, following a request from the Miss South Africa organisers.
“Adetshina could not have participated in the alleged unlawful actions of her mother, as she was an infant at the time when the activities took place in 2001,” the Minister added.
