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“I was born in South Africa” – Chidimma Chidimma case postponed to February 2027
Court defers decision on detention. The legal battle over former Miss South Africa contestant and Miss Universe Nigeria Chidimma Adetshina’s immigration status has been pushed into 2027 after the Cape Town Regional Court postponed judgment on whether she should be detained pending deportation.
The court ruled that it could not determine the detention matter while Adetshina’s separate review application in the High Court, challenging the Department of Home Affairs’ decision affecting her South African status, remains pending.
The matter has been postponed to 27 February 2027, meaning Adetshina will remain out of detention while her High Court challenge continues.
‘I have been treated unfairly and targeted’
Speaking to journalists outside court after Wednesday’s proceedings, Adetshina said she was grateful that she continued to have access to the courts.
“I’m grateful that I once again have been able to get an opportunity to have my faith in our courts,” she said.
Adetshina reiterated that she was born in South Africa and said she had followed the appropriate legal processes to resolve her immigration and citizenship status.
“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 said.
She also accused authorities and others of unfairly targeting her.
“I believe that I have been treated unfairly and targeted, and there has been an attempt to make me an example,” Adetshina said.
Despite the ongoing controversy, she said she would not respond with anger.
“But my message is not going to be one out of anger,” she said.
‘We should not allow xenophobia and misinformation’
Adetshina also appealed for the matter to be handled within the framework of South Africa’s constitutional and legal principles.
“South Africa is governed by the rule of law, and we should not allow xenophobia and misinformation to determine how people are going to be treated,” she said.
She invoked the principle of Ubuntu, saying: “We should always be guided by the spirit of Ubuntu.”
Adetshina said she would continue using the legal avenues available to her.
“Throughout this ordeal, I have availed myself of all appropriate legal recourse, and I’ll continue to respect and abide by each process,” she said.
Why Home Affairs wants her deported
Home Affairs has been pursuing Adetshina’s detention pending deportation, arguing that she does not have lawful status to remain in South Africa.
She was arrested in June after allegedly entering South Africa through the Lebombo border post with Mozambique despite having been declared a prohibited person. Her identity and travel documents had previously been cancelled following an investigation into alleged irregularities surrounding her birth registration.
The department’s investigation centred on alleged fraud involving documentation connected to Adetshina’s mother.
Home Affairs has previously stressed that Adetshina herself was not implicated in the alleged birth-registration fraud and was a child when the alleged wrongdoing occurred. However, the department has maintained that subsequent immigration-related issues mean she does not currently have a lawful basis to remain in the country.
Adetshina challenges Home Affairs decision
Adetshina is challenging the Home Affairs decision in the Western Cape High Court.
Her legal team argues that she should be allowed to resolve her immigration status through the appropriate legal processes rather than being detained and deported.
Her lawyers have also previously argued that alternatives to detention should be considered.
The High Court review is now central to the Regional Court proceedings because its outcome could affect the legal basis for any subsequent detention or deportation action.
From Miss SA controversy to Miss Universe Nigeria
The dispute dates back to 2024, when Adetshina became a finalist in the Miss South Africa competition.
Questions about her eligibility and nationality emerged because she was born in Soweto to a Nigerian father and Mozambican mother. The controversy intensified when questions were raised about her mother’s identity documents.
Adetshina eventually withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition, citing the pressure and concerns surrounding the controversy.
She subsequently competed in Miss Universe Nigeria, won the national title and represented Nigeria at Miss Universe, where she finished as first runner-up.
Her international pageant success did not, however, resolve the outstanding questions about her South African documentation and immigration status.
Protesters gather outside court
The latest hearing also drew protesters outside the court, with members of Operation Dudula and March and March calling for Adetshina to be deported to Nigeria, where her father is from.
The contrasting positions outside court reflect the broader debate surrounding the case, which has touched on immigration, citizenship, identity, xenophobia and the administration of South Africa’s immigration laws.
For now, however, the courts remain the arena in which the dispute will be determined.
Adetshina’s next major court date is set for February 2027, while her High Court review of the Home Affairs decision remains pending.
Economy
Vegetables disappear from South African plates when winter hits
As temperatures drop, breakfasts become toast instead of tomatoes, lunches lean towards bread and soup, and hearty dinners replace lighter meals. It’s an entirely human response to winter, but one that can leave vegetables falling further down the shopping list.
Every winter, South Africans naturally gravitate towards warm, comforting meals, but in the process, vegetables are often the first thing to disappear from the plate. Tenderstem® broccoli believes the solution isn’t convincing people to abandon comfort food but making it easier to build vegetables into the meals they’re already cooking. Convenience is the real fix: making the healthy choice the easy one. It is the thinking behind an approach that encourages South Africans to include quick-cooking vegetables such as Tenderstem® broccoli, which needs only a few minutes to prepare and can be added straight into meals already on the stove, rather than requiring a separate dish of their own.
Cold weather tends to draw us towards warm, filling foods, with bread, pasta and other carbohydrate-heavy favourites often becoming the easiest choice. The problem is not the comfort food. It is what gets pushed aside to make room for it.
The nutritional data reflects this pattern. According to South Africa’s National Nutrition Week, adults in this country already consume an average of around 230g of fruit and vegetables daily, which is just 58% of the internationally recommended 400g intake. That is the baseline in any season. In winter, when lighter meals feel less appealing and hot, filling food becomes the natural choice, vegetables can become even easier to overlook.
Diets low in fruit and vegetables are associated with a greater risk of non-communicable diseases, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Winter also coincides with South Africa’s flu season, making a varied diet especially relevant. Vitamin C and folate both contribute to normal immune function and can be found in a range of fresh vegetables.
The answer does not require complicated dietary changes or extra time in the kitchen. It starts with building greens into the meals people are already eating.
Start the week differently
One practical way to improve winter nutrition is to remove the daily decision. A vegetable egg bake or frittata, prepared on a Sunday evening and portioned into the fridge, provides a filling breakfast containing protein, vegetables and fibre for several days. On a cold weekday morning, having something ready to reheat makes the nutritious choice the convenient one.
Brassica greens work particularly well in this format because they hold their texture when baked and release less water than softer vegetables such as courgette or spinach. Tenderstem® broccoli can be added whole, requires no trimming and is edible from floret to stem. Fold a generous handful into whisked eggs, add cheese if desired and bake at 180°C for 20 to 25 minutes. Once portioned, it can be reheated in minutes.
It also answers a familiar winter problem. Breakfast often defaults to buttered toast, cereal or a rusk when the weather is cold and time is short. Preparing a vegetable-based protein option in advance changes that routine without adding pressure to the morning.
Add to what you already cook
Quick-cooking green vegetables can be added to soups, curries and lentil dishes in the final few minutes of cooking, making them an easy part of familiar winter meals.
The key is to choose a vegetable that holds its texture, works with robust flavours and requires little preparation. Tenderstem® broccoli cooks in three to five minutes and can be used from floret to stem. Add it to a butter chicken or lamb curry shortly before serving, stir it through soup or place it in a roasting tray with the roast for the final ten minutes of cooking. Even a grilled cheese sandwich can make room for a few green stems.
Each option fits into a meal that is already being prepared, without requiring a separate dish or additional washing up. An 80g serving counts as one of your five-a-day and is high in vitamin C and folate, which contribute to normal immune function. It also provides fibre, potassium and vitamin B6. “People do not stop caring about nutrition in winter. They choose food that feels warm, filling and manageable. The easiest way to keep vegetables on the menu is to build them into those familiar meals rather than treating them as a separate side dish,” explains Elise Ruddle, Chef and Nutritionist, South African brand representative for Tenderstem®.
Winter eating does not need to become a contest between comfort and nutrition. The more realistic answer is to make vegetables part of the comfort food itself. When greens belong in the curry, soup, breakfast bake or toasted sandwich, eating them no longer depends on anyone feeling virtuous.
