A Cape Town regional court has postponed judgment in the immigration case of Chidimma Adetshina, the former Miss Universe Nigeria contestant, setting a new hearing date of 27 February 2027.
The court was due to rule on both her immigration status and her application to halt her detention while the deportation matter proceeds. Both issues will now be decided at the rescheduled hearing.
Adetshina appeared in person at the Cape Town Regional Court on Monday, 20 July 2026, to contest a deportation order issued by South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs. She was arrested in June 2026 over allegations that she entered and remained in the country without valid legal status.
According to an affidavit filed by immigration official Jackson, department records checks confirmed Adetshina holds no lawful residential status in South Africa. The affidavit describes her as an “illegal foreigner” who “wilfully and intentionally” remained in the country in violation of the Immigration Act 13 of 2022.
Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber has said the department first moved to cancel Adetshina’s South African identity documents, along with those of her son, in September 2024. He stated that the department notified her in September 2024, and she failed to respond.
Schreiber also alleged that Adetshina obtained a Nigerian passport in Nigeria in September 2024, then applied for a South African visitor visa, which was rejected after she submitted a fraudulent bank statement. He said she did not appeal the rejection, and that she was declared a prohibited person on 19 December 2024.
Officials further allege that Adetshina later re-entered South Africa from Mozambique through the Lebombo border post on 15 June 2024, presenting herself as a South African citizen, before failing a subsequent “good cause” test under Immigration Regulation 30(1).
Because her son’s application was tied to her own, the minor’s status was rejected on the same basis, as his eligibility to remain depended on hers.
Adetshina’s legal team argues she has substantial ties to South Africa. She was born in the country, and her son was born there as well. On that basis, her lawyers contend her status could be regularised rather than resolved through deportation.
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Adetshina represented Nigeria at Miss Universe after withdrawing from the Miss South Africa pageant in 2024. She previously asked the Department of Home Affairs to review its decision to ban her, but Minister Schreiber dismissed the application in March 2026, upholding the earlier ruling.
With the case now adjourned, Adetshina’s immigration status and detention application remain unresolved until the February 2027 hearing.
