- Chidimma Adetshina is challenging a deportation order in the Cape Town Regional Court to remain in South Africa.
- Home Affairs officials allege illegal entry and misrepresentation after her South African identity documents were revoked in twenty twenty-four.
- Her legal team seeks citizenship based on her birth and eighteen-year residence under the South African Citizenship Act.
Chidimma Adetshina appeared in the Cape Town Regional Court on Monday to challenge a South African deportation order that could send her and her minor son to Nigeria and potentially bar her from returning.
The closed-door hearing resumed Monday, July 20, 2026, after proceedings began on Thursday, July 16, 2026. The case pits the former Miss South Africa finalist against the Department of Home Affairs over her right to remain in the country where she was born.
The department alleges illegal entry, unlawful residence and misrepresentation of nationality. Officials also say she has no valid South African residential status after authorities revoked her identity documents in late 2024.
Free toolUSCIS Receipt Number DecoderThe dispute reaches beyond immigration paperwork. Adetshina was born in Soweto to a Nigerian father and a Mozambican mother, and became a national flashpoint during the 2024 Miss South Africa pageant.
Home Affairs says Adetshina has no lawful status
Immigration officer Adrian Jackson said in an affidavit filed in June or July 2026 that database checks showed Adetshina “does not hold any lawful RSA [Republic of South Africa] residential status.” He also alleged that she had “wilfully and intentionally remained resident unlawfully” in the country.
| India | China | ROW | |
|---|---|---|---|
| EB-1 | Oct 15, 2022 | Jul 01, 2023 ▲30d | Current |
| EB-2 | Unavailable | Sep 01, 2021 | Current |
| EB-3 | Jan 01, 2014 | Jan 01, 2022 ▲10d | Sep 01, 2024 ▲31d |
| F-1 | Dec 15, 2018 ▲317d | Dec 15, 2018 ▲317d | Dec 15, 2018 ▲317d |
| F-2A | Jul 22, 2026 ▲567d | Jul 22, 2026 ▲567d | Jul 22, 2026 ▲567d |
Jackson further alleged that Adetshina returned through the Lebombo border from Mozambique after presenting herself as a South African citizen, despite her prohibited status. The department is using that alleged re-entry as part of its case for removal.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said authorities declared Adetshina a “prohibited person” under the Immigration Act on December 19, 2024. He said she failed to respond to a September 2024 notice that proposed cancelling her identity documents and those of her son.
Her South African identity document and passport were revoked after an investigation into her mother, Anabela Rungo. Authorities accuse Rungo of using identity theft to secure South African residency for her family years ago.
Rungo faces separate criminal charges tied to alleged identity fraud in 2001.
A rejected visa application adds another dispute
Schreiber also alleged in July 2026 that Adetshina obtained a Nigerian passport and later sought a South African visitor’s visa. Authorities denied that application after describing a bank statement submitted with it as “fraudulent.”
The department says the rejected visa left Adetshina without a lawful basis to stay. Schreiber said her son likewise has “no independent legal basis” to remain because her visa application failed.
The deportation order therefore covers both mother and child. Adetshina faces immediate removal proceedings and a possible permanent ban from South Africa.
She has asked critics on social media to “stop frustrating my life,” while maintaining that she wants to remain in the country of her birth.
Her lawyers are testing a citizenship route
Adetshina’s legal team is examining a provision in the South African Citizenship Act of 1995. The provision may allow people born in South Africa who lived there until age 18 to apply for citizenship, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
That argument could place her birth and upbringing at the center of the case. It also raises a separate question from whether her mother obtained residency lawfully: whether Adetshina herself can qualify under a citizenship route available to people born in the country.
The material before the court includes competing accounts of her nationality and residence. The department alleges that she misrepresented her nationality at the border. Her legal team is pursuing a statutory basis for citizenship.
A court’s treatment of those issues may determine whether the deportation order proceeds or whether the case moves into a citizenship application process.
Pageant success made the immigration dispute public
Adetshina withdrew from the Miss South Africa contest in 2024 after public outcry over her heritage. She later represented Nigeria and won Miss Universe Nigeria 2024.
She became the first runner-up at the global Miss Universe 2024 pageant in Mexico. Her rise kept attention on the underlying citizenship dispute and on South Africa’s immigration enforcement system.
The case has also become associated with debates about xenophobia and national identity. Her supporters focus on her birth in Soweto and life in South Africa, while the department’s filings focus on documents, entry records and immigration status.
The court proceedings are continuing behind closed doors. The minor son remains named on the deportation order, and the possible citizenship application remains part of Adetshina’s legal strategy.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific case.
