By Marcus Moloko
Supporters of the March and March movement gathered outside the Cape Town Regional Court on Wednesday, demanding that former Miss South Africa contestant Chidimma Adetshina leave the country as her immigration case was heard.
Chanting “Chidimma, go home,” protesters lined the streets outside the courthouse, reflecting growing public pressure surrounding the dispute.
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Inside, the court postponed judgment in Adetshina’s deportation case to February 2027, extending a legal battle that has gripped the nation since questions about her citizenship first surfaced during the Miss South Africa pageant in 2024.
Adetshina’s lawyers argue that she was born in Soweto in 2001 and has deep ties to South Africa, insisting her immigration status can be regularised.
The Department of Home Affairs, however, maintains she has no valid claim to remain in the country and is seeking her detention pending deportation.
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The controversy began in 2024 when social media debates over Adetshina’s nationality prompted pageant organisers to request an official investigation.
Then Home Affairs had announced that her mother, Anabela Rungo, of Mozambican descent, may have fraudulently obtained South African documentation.
Amid the fallout, Adetshina withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition but went on to represent Nigeria at Miss Universe, where she finished as first runner‑up.
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