Miss Universe Nigeria 2024 winner Chidimma Adetshina says she remains confident in the South African judiciary as her legal fight over her citizenship, immigration status and possible deportation continues.
Golden Page News |20, August 2026
CAPE TOWN — Miss Universe Nigeria 2024 winner Chidimma Adetshina has spoken out against what she describes as unfair treatment and targeting in South Africa, as her long-running legal battle over her citizenship and immigration status continues.
Speaking after proceedings at the Cape Town Regional Court, Adetshina said she believed she had been treated unfairly and that there had been an attempt to make her “an example.” However, she said she would not allow anger to define her response to the dispute.
“I believe that I have been treated unfairly and targeted and there has been an attempt to make me an example,” Adetshina said.
She called on South Africans to reject xenophobia and misinformation, stressing that the country’s constitutional and legal framework should guide how questions surrounding citizenship and immigration are handled.
“South Africa is governed by the rule of law,” she said, urging people to be guided by the spirit of Ubuntu. A citizenship dispute that began with pageantry
Adetshina’s legal difficulties gained widespread attention in 2024 when questions surrounding her nationality emerged during her participation in the Miss South Africa competition.
She subsequently withdrew from the competition and represented Nigeria at the Miss Universe Nigeria 2024 pageant, where she won the national title. She later represented Nigeria at Miss Universe, finishing as first runner-up.
The dispute has since moved beyond pageantry and into South Africa’s courts.
Adetshina maintains that she was born in South Africa and has challenged the authorities’ position regarding her legal status. Court documents reported earlier this year indicate that she was born in Johannesburg in 2001 and that her family had longstanding connections to South Africa.
Deportation proceedings remain unresolved
The Department of Home Affairs has sought confirmation of Adetshina’s detention for the purposes of deportation, while her legal team has challenged the proceedings and maintained that she has taken steps to regularise her position. 
The case has also been complicated by a Western Cape High Court ruling concerning the authority of magistrates to issue warrants for immigration detention. That legal development contributed to delays in the proceedings.
Adetshina has said she has followed the available legal processes throughout the dispute and remains confident that the courts will ultimately determine the matter.
Case adjourned to February 2027
The Cape Town Regional Court has now adjourned the matter until February 2027, extending a legal dispute that has attracted considerable attention in both South Africa and Nigeria. 
The latest adjournment means there is no final judicial determination yet on the wider questions surrounding Adetshina’s citizenship and immigration status.
For Adetshina, the dispute has become much larger than her career in pageantry. It has raised broader questions about citizenship, migration, identity, administrative processes and the treatment of people with cross-border family backgrounds.
As the case moves into 2027, Adetshina says she intends to continue using the legal system rather than respond to the controversy with anger.
Her appeal for South Africans to reject xenophobia and misinformation has also placed the case within a wider conversation about the treatment of migrants and people of foreign ancestry in South Africa.
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