The court proceedings continued on Thursday in the deportation case against Chidinma Adetshina, former Miss Universe Nigeria 2024. She appeared before a court in South Africa.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that Ms Adetshina's deportation process started in June. This followed her arrest in Cape Town for allegedly living in the country without permission.
She had gone to the Cape Town Regional Court after her arrest in Summer Greens. The court let her go with a warning.
According to the BBC, Ms Adetshina returned to court as the Department of Home Affairs moved forward with her deportation.
At the court, she filed an affidavit showing what she has done to sort out her immigration status. She is trying to avoid being deported.
After her appearance, Ms Adetshina left the Cape Town Regional Court after presenting her affidavit to the judge.
This deportation case comes two years after her Nigerian roots led to public criticism when she joined the Miss South Africa 2024 pageant.
Ms Adetshina was born in Soweto to a Nigerian Igbo father and a Mozambican mother. She made it to the Top 30 of the Miss South Africa competition before the backlash became stronger.
Later, the Miss Universe Nigeria organisers invited her to represent Taraba State. She won the title and flew Nigeria's flag at the Miss Universe 2024 pageant in Mexico.
Case Details
Ms Adetshina showed up in court after immigration officer Adrian Jackson provided documents. These documents showed that the Central Law Enforcement Unit tracked her down.
Mr Jackson said that she and her young son had been living in South Africa without proper immigration papers. He mentioned that he knew Ms Adetshina from a previous inquiry.
He explained that officials checked her personal details using the department’s database before questioning her about her immigration status.
Mr Jackson asked the court to keep Ms Adetshina in custody. He said this would help the Department of Home Affairs do its job of deporting people living in South Africa unlawfully.
Background Information
These latest court actions came after Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber rejected Ms Adetshina's request to review the department’s earlier refusal to give her and her son a letter of good cause.
By rejecting this request, the minister supported the department’s earlier decision.
In his written statement, Mr Schreiber said Ms Adetshina was informed in September 2024. The department planned to cancel both her South African identity documents and those of her son.
He added that Ms Adetshina got a Nigerian passport while in Nigeria and later applied for a South African visitor’s visa.
Mr Schreiber also mentioned that she was declared a prohibited person on 19 December 2024. He claimed that she later entered South Africa again from Mozambique through the Lebombo border, pretending to be a South African citizen.
The minister also rejected the immigration application made for Ms Adetshina’s son.
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