Chidimma Adetshina Deportation: Beauty Queen Says ‘I Was Born In South Africa’
Former Miss Universe Nigeria Chidimma Adetshina has reiterated that she was born in South Africa and believes she has been “treated unfairly and targeted,” after a Cape Town court postponed the government’s bid to detain her ahead of deportation proceedings until February 2027.
Adetshina, 25, made the comments after the Cape Town Regional Court hearing on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, giving her legal team more time to challenge a decision declaring her a prohibited person and seeking her deportation from the country. “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 after the hearing. She said she believed authorities were trying to make an example of her and warned against allowing hostility towards migrants to influence decisions about her case, saying “there has been an attempt” by South African authorities to do so.
Her case was postponed to February 2027 to allow for the finalisation of her review challenging the Department of Home Affairs’ decision to deport her, meaning she remains a free woman until that process is completed. Her comments came as protesters from the anti-migrant group March and March gathered outside the court calling for her deportation, with some protesters reportedly chasing her car as she left the courthouse.
Adetshina, born in Soweto to a Nigerian father and a Mozambican mother, was stripped of her South African identity and travel documents in 2024 following allegations that her mother, Anabela Rungo, had committed identity fraud to gain South African nationality. Being born in South Africa does not automatically grant citizenship in the country; one of a child’s parents must either be a citizen themselves or hold permanent residency for that to happen. Rungo had her own South African citizenship revoked in 2025 after the case was referred to the Hawks, a specialised police unit investigating serious crimes, which concluded the matter constituted a case of fraud.
The investigation into Adetshina’s status began after she became a finalist in the 2024 Miss South Africa pageant, a development that sparked intense public scrutiny and, according to Adetshina, a wave of xenophobic backlash online. She withdrew from the competition citing concerns for her and her family’s safety and wellbeing, before accepting an invitation to compete in Miss Universe Nigeria, which she went on to win. She subsequently represented Nigeria at the global Miss Universe competition, finishing as first runner-up and being crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania, cementing her status as one of Nigeria’s most recognised beauty queens on the international stage.
Adetshina was arrested in June 2026 in Summer Greens, Cape Town, after the Department of Home Affairs alleged she had re-entered South Africa unlawfully through the Lebombo border post from Mozambique, in direct violation of her status as a declared prohibited person, a designation that had been in place since October 2024 when her identity and travel documents were first cancelled. She was later released on warning.
Her legal battle unfolds against the backdrop of broader immigration tensions in South Africa, with the country continuing to grapple with pressure over undocumented migration; official estimates put the number of foreign-born people living in South Africa at between 2.4 and 3.1 million, though the exact scale of undocumented immigration remains difficult to determine.
Despite the strain of the prolonged legal battle, Adetshina has continued to speak publicly about her determination to remain in the country, previously posting on social media, “Exhausted – yes, Burnt out – yes, Depressed – yes. Will I give up? NO!” As of the time of filing, the Department of Home Affairs had not issued further comment following Wednesday’s postponement, with the matter now set to resume in February 2027.
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