A Miss South Africa candidate whose Nigerian origins sparked a fierce xenophobic controversy and a government investigation has announced today that she is retiring from pageants.

“After much thought, I have made the difficult decision to withdraw from the competition for the good and safety of my family, as well as for my own good and safety“, Sidima Adetsina announced in her post on the Instagram social network.

The 23-year-old law studentwho was born in Soweto to a South African mother of Mozambican descent and a Nigerian father, had qualified in July for the final of her country’s beauty pageant, which is expected to take place next Saturday.

Her decision not to participate came two days after the country’s interior ministry charged her mother with fraud and identity theft and after weeks of attacks and comments about her nationality from politicians, celebrities and even ordinary netizens.

The uproar caused by her participation in the pageant led to the launch of an investigation focusing on her nationality, following a request filed in this direction by the organizers of the beauty pageant.

Yesterday, Interior Minister Leon Schreiber confirmed that the investigation had uncovered evidence that Sidima Adetsina’s mother may have stolen the identity of a South African woman.

The ministry clarified that it has requested the assistance of lawyers to find out what the consequences of this alleged fraud are on the nationality of the 23-year-old, who was a baby at the time of the events that allegedly took place.

Although the messages of support for the young woman were many, signature collections were started online to exclude her from the beauty pageants.