Anabela Rungo, Mother of Chidimma Adetshina, in South African Identity Theft Case

Anabela Rungo, the mother of Miss Universe Nigeria 2024 and former Miss South Africa finalist Chidimma Adetshina, appeared in the Cape Town Magistrates Court on Wednesday to face charges of identity fraud and violations of South Africa’s immigration laws.

The case, which has gripped public attention, stems from allegations that Rungo illegally obtained South African citizenship by assuming another woman’s identity—a fraud dating back nearly three decades.

Rungo, 46, a Mozambican national, was arrested in February after South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs (DHA) revoked her South African documents and launched a criminal investigation. Authorities say Rungo used the identity of a South African woman, Sara Moyo, to obtain official documents in 1995, including an identity card and a passport. Officials contend that the fraud came to light during heightened public scrutiny of her daughter’s nationality during the 2024 Miss South Africa pageant.

The victim of the alleged identity theft has reportedly faced years of administrative barriers, including the inability to register her own child due to the duplication of her identity.

Rungo’s documents were formally annulled in September 2024, and she was declared a “prohibited person” under immigration law. Despite this, authorities say she continued living in Cape Town using her Mozambican passport and failed to comply with orders to leave the country.

At her court appearance on May 14, Rungo was charged with contravening both the Immigration Act and Identification Act. The case, originally delayed by a change in legal counsel and the appointment of a new prosecutor, resumed with her legal team petitioning for relaxed bail conditions.

She had been released on R10,000 bail earlier this year under strict conditions, including house arrest, restrictions on consular contact, and surprise inspections by immigration officials. Prosecutors argued that she posed a flight risk, but Magistrate Sadiqah Guendouz ruled that her immigration status remained unchanged whether she was detained or not, allowing her release under strict monitoring.

Rungo has denied all allegations, stating in an affidavit that she is “being wrongly accused of a crime she did not commit.” Her lawyer, Ben Matthewson, emphasized her role as primary caregiver to her grandson and cited medical concerns regarding her potential detention at Pollsmoor Prison.

The case has garnered widespread attention in South Africa and abroad due to its connection to Chidimma Adetshina, Rungo’s 23-year-old daughter, who became the first runner-up at the 2024 Miss Universe pageant and was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania.

Born in Soweto to a Nigerian father and a Mozambican mother, Adetshina withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition last August amid a growing xenophobic backlash. The controversy over her heritage and eligibility intensified after Home Affairs revealed its investigation into her mother’s documentation.

Following her withdrawal, Adetshina went on to win the Miss Universe Nigeria title in September 2024. She has since relocated to Nigeria and turned off comments on her social media platforms due to ongoing harassment and speculation surrounding her family.

Home Affairs further complicated the family’s legal standing in October 2024 by announcing the cancellation of Adetshina’s South African identity and travel documents, citing a lack of grounds for her to retain them. The department clarified, however, that she bore no legal responsibility for her mother’s alleged actions, which occurred when she was still an infant.

The case has triggered national debate around immigration enforcement, citizenship verification, and xenophobia in post-apartheid South Africa. Critics on social media have voiced frustration at the perceived leniency of Rungo’s bail terms, while others have pointed to the broader systemic failures that enabled the alleged fraud to occur.

“This is not just about one woman,” said Stefanie De Saude Darbandi, an independent immigration attorney in Cape Town. “It’s about the structural weaknesses in our identity management systems—and the human cost when those systems break down.”

The Department of Home Affairs confirmed that at least three of its officials are under investigation for their alleged roles in facilitating the fraud. One has since died, and the others remain subjects of an internal disciplinary process. The case has been escalated to the Hawks, South Africa’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, and awaits further action by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

The proceedings have been postponed to May 28, 2025, to allow time for additional investigation. In the meantime, Rungo remains under court-ordered house arrest. The trial’s outcome may have implications not only for Rungo’s legal status but also for the DHA’s push to digitize and modernize its identity systems amid increasing scrutiny of fraud and mismanagement.