Cape Town – Anabela Rungo, the mother of beauty queen Chidimma Adetshina, is not allowed to leave her residence in Summer Greens in Cape Town, Western Cape.
Rungo is a Mozambican in trouble with the law in South Africa.
Rungo’s troubles began last year when her daughter, a finalist in the Miss SA pageant, quit the beauty contests after her immigration status was questioned.
Allegations were that Rungo used a stolen SA ID to register the birth of Adetshina as a citizen.
Home Affairs investigated the matter and in October 2024 announced that it would cancel the identity and travel documents of former Miss South Africa contestant, Adetshina, and her Mozambican-born mother.
At the time, the mother and her daughter faced probable fraud charges.
However, the following month, November, Adetshina represented Nigeria – her father’s home country – at the Miss Universe pageant in Mexico, where she was crowned runner-up.
In South Africa, questions were asked about how Adetshina had travelled out of the country to Nigeria and then Mexico.
What travel documents did she use?
Before the dust could settle, a photograph of the the beauty queen chilling at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town recently surfaced on social media and tongues began to wag again.
How was Adetshina back in South Africa if her travel documents were cancelled? Some asked on social media.
Before long, law enforcers were hot on Adetshina’s trail and traced her residence, where they found her mother, Rungo, and a child.
Rungo was arrested on 15 February 2025 for immigration law violations and the child was placed under the care of the Department of Social Development.
To protect the identity of the child the court ordered that no photographs of Rungo be published.
This week Rugo appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court, where she was granted R10 000 bail with conditions that include house arrest.
Rungo may not leave her Summer Greens home unless she is to attend court proceedings or consult with her legal representatives.
She may be visited during this period, at any time, by an immigration officer or an officer of the South African Police Services.
Rungo is further barred from visiting or sending any person on her behalf to any embassy or consulate including the Mozambican or Nigerian embassy.
The court ordered Rungo not to apply for travel documents [passport] while this matter was pending.
Rungo was, however, allowed to visit the South African Department of Home Affairs.
The state had unsuccessfully argued that Rugo was a flight risk and should be denied bail.
There were allegations before the court that Rungo left and entered SA more than five times without being detected at the border.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, said Rungo’s case was postponed to 8 May 2025 for further investigations into her matter.
