Home Affairs investigators and police have arrested the mother of former Miss South Africa contestant Chidimma Adetshina.
Departmental spokesperson Siya Qoza said Anabela Rungo was arrested in her hideout in Cape Town on Saturday.
It was discovered she obtained her ID illegally
The Mozambican, who is in the country illegally, 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.
Rungo was with her grandchild
Qoza said Rungo was with Adetshina’s minor child when she was arrested.
“Investigators from the department assisted by the South African Police Service, 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.”
Qoza said that Rungo had deliberately disregarded the legal consequences of her conduct.
“It appears that Rungo has defied her ‘undesirable’ status through her Mozambican passport. Investigations are ongoing into further potential misrepresentation and fraudulent conduct. After being processed by Home Affairs over her apparent illegal continued residence in South Africa, 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 (Hawks),” he said.
The minor will be in the custody of social development
He added that Home Affairs was in communication with the Department of Social Development and SAPS Child Protection to safeguard the well-being of the minor.
After Adetshina was outed as an illegal immigrant, she immediately pulled out of Miss SA instead opting to participate in Miss Universe Nigeria, where she took the crown.
She later represented Nigeria at Miss Universe pageant in Mexico where became the first runner-up and Miss Universe Africa and Oceania.
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