PICTURE: X/ ANABELA RUNGO
Anabela Rungo, the mother of controversial beauty pageant queen, Chidimma Adetshina, was granted bail with strict conditions during her latest court appearance.
Chidimma’s mother was accused of contravening the Immigration Act and Identification Act. The court had previously heard testimony by an immigration officer who said she failed to respond to correspondence in September 2024, in which she was told that her ID number was being withdrawn and given a chance to object.
She was arrested in Cape Town in February despite her ID being revoked. She was found to have committed fraud to obtain citizenship.
“Thank you Jesus,” these were the words sighed by Anabela Rungo, mother of beauty queen and model Chidimma Adetshina, after the court heard that she was granted bail for R10,000 on the condition she remains under house arrest during the court proceedings.@TimesLIVE pic.twitter.com/qP3U649NGW
— Kim Swartz (@KimTracySwartz) February 26, 2025
According to The Citizen, Anabela was prohibited from applying for residency permits or engaging with the Nigerian or Mozambican embassies.
The State also brought an application to recuse Sadiqah from the case, after she was accused of bias and having prior knowledge about the case before Anabela’s arrest.
Anabela’s defence argued that there were no grounds for Sadiqah to recuse herself, and gave the State time to find out if another magistrate could preside over the case.
Sadiqah said that there were no grounds for her recusal either.
“This court could easily recuse itself. What has unfortunately become blatantly embarrassing for the State is that it’s going to find everybody discussed it [the matter] in September. It was the thing that was all over, it was not over yet. Those grounds are not enough,” she said.
The case was postponed to May 8 for further investigation.
First published by African Insider
Compiled by Matthew Petersen
Also see: Home Affairs blocks ID of Chidimma Adetshina’s mother
