A Cape Town regional court on Wednesday postponed judgment in the immigration case of Chidimma Adetshina, the model who withdrew from the Miss South Africa pageant in 2024 amid a citizenship dispute, setting a new hearing date of February 27, 2027.
Magistrate Reema Khorana said the ruling on Adetshina’s legal status and her bid to halt her detention would await the outcome of a separate high court review of the government’s decision to deport her.
Adetshina, 25, is contesting a deportation order issued by South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs, which detained her in June on allegations she had entered and remained in the country unlawfully. An affidavit filed by an immigration official said checks of departmental records showed she held no valid residential status and described her as an “illegal foreigner” under the country’s immigration law.
Her lawyers argue she has significant ties to South Africa, noting she was born in the country and that her young son was also born there. Under South African law, birth in the country does not automatically confer citizenship unless a parent is a citizen or permanent resident.
Speaking outside the court, Adetshina said she remained confident in South Africa’s judicial system and appealed to the public not to let xenophobia or misinformation influence how her case was perceived. She said she had pursued the matter through proper legal channels and believed she had been unfairly targeted.
A small group of protesters from Operation Dudula, an anti-immigration organization, gathered outside the courthouse calling for her removal from the country.
The case originated during the 2024 Miss South Africa pageant, when Adetshina’s eligibility was challenged after it emerged her father is Nigerian and her mother has Mozambican family roots. She withdrew from the competition after Home Affairs raised fraud and identity-theft allegations against her mother, and later went on to win Miss Universe Nigeria, finishing as first runner-up at the global Miss Universe pageant. Her South African citizenship was revoked in 2025.
The dispute has become one of the most closely watched citizenship cases in South Africa, drawing wider debate over immigration, national identity and xenophobia.
