HOME AFFAIRS DETAINS MISS UNIVERSE NIGERIA CHIDIMMA ADETSHINA’S MOTHER

• The mother of Chidimma Adetshina, Anabela Rungo, has been detained by the Department of Home Affairs, assisted by the South African Police Service.
• The department withdrew Rungo’s South African documentation in September 2024 after finding it had been fraudulently obtained.
• Adetshina, whose citizenship was questioned when she made it into the top 10 of the Miss South Africa contest, went on to compete in and win the Miss Universe Nigeria pageant.

The mother of Chidimma Adetshina – whose citizenship was questioned when she made it into the top 10 of the Miss South Africa contest – was detained in Cape Town on 15 February 2025.

Investigators from the Department of Home Affairs, assisted by the South African Police Service, detained Anabela Rungo, Adetshina’s mother, at a property in Cape Town.

Adetshina, who withdrew from the South African contest to compete in the Miss Universe Nigeria, came to the public’s attention when she explained she was born to a Nigerian father and a South African mother of Mozambican descent.

However, the Department of Home Affairs withdrew Rungo’s South African documentation in September 2024 after finding it had been fraudulently obtained, rendering her ineligible to continue residing in South Africa.

“In an apparent act of brazen disregard for the legal consequences of her conduct, it appears that Ms Rungo has defied her ‘undesirable’ status through her Mozambican passport. Investigations are ongoing into further potential misrepresentation and fraudulent conduct,” according to a statement from the Department of Home Affairs.

During the operation, investigators from the counter corruption and immigration services branches of the department also found Adetshina’s under-aged child residing with Rungo.

After being processed by the Department of Home Affairs over her apparent illegal continued residence in South Africa, Rungo will be handed over to the South African Police Service as she is also the subject of an ongoing investigation by the directorate for priority crime investigation

The Department of Home Affairs is liaising with the Department of Social Development and the South African Police Service’s Child Protection Unit as it relates to protecting the interests of the under-age child.