By Charmaine Ndlela
The Cape Town Regional Court has postponed to February 2027 the judgment in the deportation case involving former Miss South Africa contestant Chidimma Adetshina.
The postponement extends a legal battle that began with questions about Adetshina’s citizenship during the Miss South Africa pageant in 2024 and has since developed into a dispute with the Department of Home Affairs over her right to remain in South Africa.
Adetshina’s lawyers argue that she has deep ties to South Africa and that her immigration status can be regularised, particularly because she was born in the country.
Home Affairs, however, maintains that she has no valid basis to remain in South Africa and is seeking her detention pending deportation.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday after the latest proceedings, Adetshina said she was grateful for the opportunity to have her case heard.
“I’m grateful that I once again have been able to get an opportunity to have my faith in our courts,” she said.
“I remind everyone that I was born in South Africa. I have applied through the proper legal channels to have my status and citizenship determined.”
Adetshina said she believed she had been unfairly targeted during the controversy but would not allow anger to dictate her response.
“I believe that I have been treated unfairly and targeted, and there has been an attempt to make me an example, but my message is not going to be one out of anger,” she said.
She called on South Africans to allow the legal process to take its course, warning against xenophobia and misinformation.
“South Africa is governed by the rule of law, and we should not allow xenophobia and misinformation to determine how people are going to be treated. We should all be guided by the spirit of Ubuntu,” she said.
The case stems from controversy that erupted during Adetshina’s participation in the Miss South Africa pageant in 2024.
Questions about her nationality and that of her parents gained traction on social media, prompting pageant organisers to ask Home Affairs to investigate her citizenship.
In August 2024, then Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber announced an official investigation into Adetshina’s citizenship and family documentation.
Home Affairs subsequently alleged that her mother, Anabela Rungo, who is of Mozambican descent, may have fraudulently obtained South African documentation using the identity of another South African woman.
The department also broadened its investigation to establish whether officials were involved in the alleged irregularities and said criminal charges would be pursued against anyone found to have acted unlawfully.
Adetshina, who was born in Soweto in 2001 to a Nigerian father and a Mozambican-born mother, eventually withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition amid the controversy.
She later represented Nigeria at Miss Universe, where she finished as first runner-up.
Her South African documents were subsequently cancelled and she was declared a prohibited person, according to Home Affairs.
The dispute resurfaced in June when Adetshina was arrested in Summer Greens, Cape Town, after authorities alleged that she and her young son were living in South Africa without lawful status.
She appeared in court on 9 June and was released on warning, subject to conditions, while the legal process continued.
Home Affairs is seeking to have her detained pending deportation, while her lawyers are pursuing legal avenues over her immigration status and bid to avoid detention pending possible deportation.
Adetshina has maintained that she will continue to use the legal avenues available to her.
“Throughout this ordeal, I have availed myself of all appropriate legal recourse, and I’ll continue to respect and abide by each process,” she said.
The case has also drawn protests outside the court.
Members and supporters of March and March gathered outside the Cape Town Regional Court, calling for Adetshina to leave South Africa and chanting, “Chidimma go home.”
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