Chidimma Adetshina: ‘South Africa is the only home I know’
· The South African
Former Miss UNiverse Nigeria Chidimma Adetshina is challenging a bid by the Department of Home Affairs to detain and deport her, stating that South Africa is the “only home” she has known.
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The 25-year-old – who was arrested last month over her illegal status – has argued that she should not be treated as a foreign national as she was “born and raised in South Africa”.
The 25-year-old was born in Soweto to two immigrants: a Nigerian father and a Mozambican mother, who is accused of committing identity fraud when registering her birth. At the time of her birth, neither of her parents had permanent residency in the country.
Despite representing Nigeria at Miss Universe in 2024, and proclaiming to be a “proud Nigerian”, Chidimma has stated that she has “no meaningful ties” elsewhere.
CHIDIMMA ARGUES THAT SOUTH AFRICA IS HER ONLY HOME
This week, Chidimma Adetshina made an appearance in the Cape Town Magistrates Court, where she is challenging a bid by the Department of Home Affairs to detain and deport her and her young son, whose father is a Nigerian foreign national.
In an affidavit, the mother-of-one stated that she was in the process of regularising her immigration status, including having her prohibited person status uplifted.
The 25-year-old stated that South Africa was the only home she and her son had known.
She stated: “We were recognised, documented and treated in every way as South Africans, from the registration of our births to, in my case, the issuing of a South African identity document and passport.”
Chidimma claimed that she and her son should not be treated as foreign nationals, adding that she had “no ties elsewhere”.
She continued: “Now we have been stripped of every status we held in South Africa. We are not only de facto illegal foreigners, but we have also been barred from ever holding a visa or permit under the act again.”
In 2024, the Department of Home Affairs informed Chidimma Adetshina that her passport and identity documentation had been declared invalid after finding prima facie evidence that her mother had committed identity fraud when registering her birth.
Last month, the beauty queen was arrested after entering South Africa under an illegal immigration status. The department has stated that she has no lawful immigration status and no valid basis to remain in the country.
The court has reserved judgment until 19 August.
‘I’M A PROUD NIGERIAN’
Meanwhile, social media users have revisited a video in which Chidimma professes to be a “proud Nigerian”.
The video was taken after Chidimma won the Miss Universe Nigeria title, just weeks after she dropped out of the Miss South Africa pageant amid an investigation by the Department of Home Affairs into her immigration status.
In the video, she stated: “I do feel like I am Nigerian. And I have always felt Nigerian from the moment I was born. It’s not just because of the opportunity that was presented to me. People who know me will see that I have embodied that spirit of being a pure, proudly Nigerian woman”.
In another video, Chidimma thanked Nigerians for welcoming her after South Africans “rejected” her.