Two years after being bullied out of Miss South Africa, Chidimma Adetshina faces fresh deportation battle

• Former Miss Universe Nigeria Chidimma Adetshina is facing fresh deportation proceedings in South Africa over an ongoing citizenship dispute.

• South African authorities allege her birth was registered using a stolen identity, leading to the cancellation of her documentation.

• The case comes two years after she withdrew from Miss South Africa before going on to represent Nigeria at Miss Universe.

Former Miss Universe Nigeria, Chidimma Adetshina, is facing a fresh deportation battle in South Africa, two years after a citizenship dispute forced her out of the Miss South Africa pageant.

According to South African outlets, the 25-year-old, who was born in Soweto, appeared before the Cape Town Regional Court on June 9, after being arrested earlier that month. She was released on warning and is due back in court on July 16, as South Africa's Department of Home Affairs pursues her deportation.

Immigration officer Adrian Jackson stated in an affidavit that system checks confirmed Adetshina held no valid South African residency status, despite having been born in the country.

The dispute dates back to 2024, when South Africa's Home Affairs Department launched an investigation into her citizenship, alleging that her mother, Anabela Rungo, fraudulently registered Adetshina's birth using a stolen South African identity. Three Home Affairs officials were also implicated in that registration, one of whom has since died, with two others still under investigation.

Rungo, who is Mozambican, was arrested in February 2025 over the alleged fraud. Authorities later cancelled both her and Adetshina's South African documentation.

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said Adetshina was notified in September 2024 that her documents would be cancelled but did not respond. He further alleged she later obtained a Nigerian passport before applying for a South African visa using a fraudulent bank statement, leading to her being declared a prohibited person in December 2024.

Schreiber also claimed she re-entered South Africa through the Lebombo border from Mozambique, presenting herself as a South African citizen, before applying again for permission to stay. That application, along with one filed for her son, was rejected.

Adetshina withdrew from the Miss South Africa pageant in 2024 after the citizenship questions triggered intense public backlash, with critics at the time accusing South Africans of singling her out over her Nigerian father. She went on to represent Nigeria at Miss Universe, finishing as first runner-up.

The court has ordered her to remain at her current address and report any change in residence, employment or movement to immigration officials, pending her next hearing.

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