A South African court has postponed until February 2027 the legal battle over the immigration status of Chidimma Adetshina, a 25-year-old beauty queen who insists she was born in the country and has been unfairly targeted by authorities. The Cape Town Regional Court adjourned proceedings on Wednesday after hearing arguments in the case, in which South Africa's Department of Home Affairs is seeking to have Adetshina detained and deported. She remains free pending the outcome of a separate legal review she has launched to challenge the department's deportation decision.

Adetshina was born in Soweto — the historic township southwest of Johannesburg — to a Nigerian father and a Mozambican mother, and grew up in Cape Town. Her case first drew public attention in 2024, when questions about her eligibility emerged after she became a finalist in the Miss South Africa pageant. Critics challenged her right to compete given her parents' origins, leading her to withdraw from the contest. South African law does not grant citizenship automatically by birth; at least one parent must be a citizen or permanent resident. Authorities subsequently stripped Adetshina of her South African identity and travel documents, alleging that her mother, Anabela Rungo, had committed identity fraud to obtain South African nationality — a claim that led to Rungo's citizenship being revoked in 2025.

After leaving South Africa in 2024, Adetshina was invited by Nigerian pageant organisers to represent Taraba State and went on to win the Miss Universe Nigeria title, later competing at Miss Universe 2024 in Mexico. She was arrested in Cape Town in June this year on allegations of re-entering South Africa unlawfully through a Mozambican border post. In court, the home affairs department argued that her Nigerian passport applications — obtained while she was in Nigeria — implied she was not a South African citizen. An immigration officer testified that neither Adetshina nor her young son possessed valid documentation to reside in the country.

Speaking outside the courthouse, Adetshina pushed back firmly against the government's position.