Cape Town – Anabela Rungo – the mother of beauty queen Chidimma Adetshina whose SA citizenship was said to have been obtained fraudulently – has been arrested.
Assisted by the South African Police Service (SAPS), the Department of Home Affairs on Saturday, (15 February 2025), said “Ms. Anabela Rungo, the mother of Ms. Chidimma Adetshina” was arrested “this morning” at a property in Cape Town.
Matters came to a head last year when Chidimma Adetshina’s citizenship was questioned while participating in the Miss SA pageant.
Although she pulled out of the competition the department investigated her status and found that her mother, who is from Mozambique, had used a stolen Identity to register her birth as a South African.
RELATED: Chidimma Adetshina Quits Miss SA Pageant After Home Affairs Accuses Mom Of ID Theft – The Bulrushes
Undeterred, Chidimma Adetshina competed in a beauty pageant in Nigeria – her father’s home country.
Chidimma Adetshina was crowned Miss Universe Nigeria 2024 at an event held at the Eko Hotel Convention Centre in Victoria Island.
She then competed in the Miss Universe in Mexico where she was runner-up to the winner – Miss Denmark Victoria Kjær Theilvig.
Mexico’s María Fernanda Beltrán Figueroa took the second runner-up position.
However, the department withdrew Ms 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.
“In an apparent act of brazen disregard for the legal consequences of her conduct, it appears that Ms Rungo has defied her ‘undesirable’ status through her Mozambican passport,” the department said.
“Investigations are ongoing into further potential misrepresentation and fraudulent conduct.
“During the operation this morning, investigators from the Counter Corruption and Immigration Services branches of the Department also found Adetshina’s under-aged child residing with Rungo.”
The department said after being processed by Home Affairs over her apparent illegal continued residence in South Africa, Ms. Rungo will be handed over to the SAPS as she is also the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation.
Home Affairs said it was liaising with the Department of Social Development and SAPS Child Protection Unit as it relates to protecting the interests of the under-age child.
