Beauty queen Chidimma Adetshina was confronted by anti-migrant protesters outside a courthouse in Cape Town on 24 August 2026, shortly after attending a hearing relating to her deportation case.
Videos circulating on social media captured the tense incident, with protesters seen pursuing Adetshina’s vehicle as she attempted to leave the court premises.
The confrontation has renewed discussions around xenophobia, citizenship rights and the treatment of migrants in South Africa.
Adetshina, 25, has continued to challenge efforts to remove her from South Africa.
Speaking to reporters, she said: “I remind everyone that I was born in South Africa. I have applied through the proper legal channels to have my status and citizenship determined.”
She also argued that xenophobia and misinformation should not influence how people are treated in the country.
Adetshina, whose mother has Mozambican roots and whose father is Nigerian, has been involved in a citizenship dispute since 2024, when questions were raised about her eligibility to participate in the Miss South Africa pageant.
She was subsequently stripped of her South African identity and travel documents following allegations that her mother, Anabela Rungo, had committed identity fraud to obtain South African nationality.
Adetshina left South Africa in 2024 and later participated in Miss Universe Nigeria, where she emerged as the winner.
She was arrested in June 2026 after allegedly re-entering South Africa unlawfully and was subsequently released on warning.
South Africa’s Home Affairs department has argued that Adetshina applied for a South African visa from Nigeria and possessed Nigerian passports for herself and her son, which officials say indicates that she was not a South African citizen.
Officials also alleged that she illegally entered South Africa through a border post in Mozambique.
The latest court hearing, which was expected to address her detention, has now been postponed until February 2027 to allow the completion of her legal challenge against the deportation order.
Adetshina will remain free while the legal process continues.
The protest outside the courthouse was reportedly organised by anti-migrant group March and March, which has campaigned for the removal of undocumented migrants from South Africa.
Adetshina has maintained that South Africa is her home and said she has been “treated unfairly and targeted” by authorities.
She also alleged that there had been “an attempt” to make an example of her, suggesting that her case had become part of the wider debate over migration and identity in South Africa.
The confrontation outside the courthouse has since attracted widespread attention online, with social media users sharing footage of the incident and debating the circumstances surrounding the beauty queen’s ongoing legal battle.
Click the link to watch the video.