Chidimma’s fight for a South African identity

Former Miss South Africa finalist Chidimma Adetshina says South Africa is the only home she and her three-year-old son have ever known.

“We were recognised, documented and treated in every way as South Africans, from the registration of our births to, in my case, the issuing of a South African identity document and passport,” she says in a court affidavit.

“Now we have been stripped of every status we held in South Africa. We are not only de facto illegal foreigners, but we have also been barred from ever holding a visa or permit under the act again.”

Adetshina is fighting to be recognised as a South African citizen in a legal battle that has become one of the country’s most closely watched citizenship disputes.

Her attorney, Stefanie de Saude-Darbandi, told the Sunday Times that the past two months had been “extremely difficult” for the 25-year-old and her family.