Former Miss Universe Nigeria, Chidimma Adetshina, has said she is exhausted, burnt out and depressed but remains determined to continue fighting after a South African court reserved judgment in proceedings seeking her detention and deportation.
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The Cape Town Regional Court on Monday fixed August 19, 2026, to deliver judgment on whether the 25-year-old beauty queen should be detained pending her proposed deportation from South Africa.
Adetshina was arrested in Cape Town in June after South African immigration authorities alleged that she and her minor son were living in the country without valid immigration status. The Department of Home Affairs is asking the court to confirm her detention while the deportation process continues.
During the proceedings, lawyers representing the department argued that although Adetshina had outlined steps taken to regularise her status, she still lacked the documents required to remain lawfully in South Africa.
The state also alleged that she retained a South African passport that she had refused to surrender despite holding Nigerian citizenship.
Home Affairs further alleged that Adetshina obtained Nigerian passports for herself and her child in Lagos before securing a South African visa and subsequently re-entering South Africa through Mozambique.
Her legal team opposed the application for detention, maintaining that she was born in South Africa, regarded the country as her only home and was not likely to abscond.
Her lawyer, Advocate Giles Barclay-Beuthin, argued that Home Affairs had failed to establish that Adetshina posed a flight risk, noting that she was willing to surrender her South African passport.
The defence also maintained that Adetshina’s public profile made it unlikely that she could disappear without being traced.
Her lawyers proposed alternatives to detention, including requiring her to report to an immigration officer every two weeks while the legal dispute was being resolved.
They also argued that the Department of Home Affairs failed to conduct a fair investigation before invalidating her documents and declaring her a prohibited person.
The defence said that decision was already the subject of a separate review proceeding before the Western Cape High Court and expressed confidence that it would ultimately be overturned.
Home Affairs’ lawyer, Motlalepule Ranto, countered that Adetshina had previously entered South Africa in 2025 despite allegedly being placed on a visa-restricted list.
The state also urged the regional court to avoid making a decision that could pre-empt the outcome of the pending High Court review.
Presiding Magistrate Reema Khorana encouraged both sides to consider resolving the dispute outside court, but they were unable to reach an agreement.
The proceedings were further complicated by a recent Western Cape High Court judgment holding that magistrates lack jurisdiction to issue arrest warrants for immigration detention because the power rests with immigration officers.
The ruling created a legal issue concerning the nature of the order Home Affairs was asking the regional court to make. The court subsequently reserved judgment until August 19.
Reacting after the hearing, Adetshina disclosed the emotional toll the prolonged immigration and citizenship dispute had taken on her.
“Exhausted — yes. Burnt out — yes. Depressed — yes. Will I give up? No! We no dey carry last. See you next month,” she wrote on Instagram.
Adetshina has been at the centre of a citizenship controversy since participating in the 2024 Miss South Africa pageant.
Questions concerning her nationality and the circumstances under which her South African identity documents were obtained generated widespread public debate and prompted an investigation by the Department of Home Affairs.
She eventually withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition, citing concerns about her safety and that of her family.
The Silverbird Group subsequently invited her to participate in the 2024 Miss Universe Nigeria pageant, which she won.
She represented Nigeria at the Miss Universe competition and finished as first runner-up, recording the highest placement achieved by a Nigerian contestant in the competition.
Adetshina was born in Soweto to a Nigerian father of Igbo descent and a mother of Mozambican origin.
South African authorities maintain that she was declared a prohibited person after the cancellation of documents linked to her citizenship status.
Her lawyers, however, insist that the administrative process was flawed and that she has taken legitimate steps to regularise her stay.
Adetshina had filed an affidavit during an earlier court appearance detailing those efforts and asking the court to prevent her detention and deportation while her legal challenges remain unresolved.
She will remain out of immigration detention pending the Cape Town Regional Court’s judgment on August 19.
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