South African beauty pageant contestant Chidimma Adetshina has publicly rejected efforts by the country's home affairs department to deport her, insisting she was born in South Africa despite officials declaring her a "prohibited person" in 2024. The case has become a flashpoint in wider debates over xenophobia and citizenship in South Africa, with anti-migrant protesters gathering outside a Cape Town court on Wednesday to demand her removal, some chasing her car as she left.

Adetshina, 25, whose mother has Mozambican roots and father is Nigerian, had her South African identity documents stripped after questions arose about her eligibility during the 2024 Miss South Africa contest; she withdrew and later won Miss Universe Nigeria. She was arrested in June 2025 over allegedly re-entering the country unlawfully and released on warning, and the government's bid to detain her was postponed on Wednesday until a review of the deportation decision is finalised in February 2027, meaning she remains free until then. Her mother, Anabela Rungo, had her own South African citizenship revoked in 2025 over identity fraud allegations, and under South African law birth in the country does not automatically confer citizenship unless a parent is a citizen or permanent resident.