Online Reporter
Beauty queen Chidimma Adetshina’s mother will remain in custody until Wednesday, when she makes her second appearance in the Cape Town high court.
Anabela Rungo (46) was denied bail by the same court on Friday 22 February.
According to Western Cape National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila, the court will hear bail application arguments. “The case has been postponed to February 26 for arguments in the bail application. Both state and defence will submit heads of argument to the court,” he said. “The accused remains in custody at Pollsmoor prison.”
Sunday World reported last Saturday that Home Affairs investigators and police had arrested Rungo in Cape Town. Home Affairs established Rungo obtained citizenship illegally
Rungo found herself in the soup when the department established she had obtained a South African ID fraudulently.
It quickly declared her a persona non-grata in September. Her status in South Africa came under the spotlight during the drama that followed her daughter’s participation in the Miss South Africa beauty pageant.
It was revealed that Adetshina was ineligible to partake in the contest because she was not a South African. This immediately raised questions about her parents because it had been claimed that she was born within the borders.
It then emerged that her mother was a Mozambican national and her father a Nigerian. Qoza said: “Investigators from the department assisted by police, this morning detained Anabela Rungo, the mother of Chidimma Adetshina, at a property in Cape Town. The Department withdrew Rungo’s South African documentation in September 2024 after finding that it had been fraudulently obtained, rendering her ineligible to continue residing in South Africa.”
He added that Home Affairs had alerted the Department of Social Development and SAPS Child Protection to the presence of the child during the arrest. The two are responsible for the safety of children.
When Adetshina’s legal status in the country was questioned, she pulled out of Miss SA to participate in Miss Universe Nigeria, where she took the crown. She later represented Nigeria at a Miss Universe pageant in Mexico where became the first runner-up and Miss Universe Africa and Oceania. — Sundayworld
