Korede Abdullah in Lagos
Anabela Rungo, the mother of former Miss South Africa contestant Chidimma Adetshina, has been arrested in Cape Town for obtaining a South African ID fraudulently.
According to Departmental spokesperson Siya Qoza, Rungo was arrested on Saturday and was found to be in possession of a Mozambican passport, which she allegedly used to defy her “undesirable” status in South Africa.
Qoza stated, “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.”
Rungo’s arrest comes after her daughter, Chidimma Adetshina, was disqualified from the Miss South Africa pageant due to her ineligible citizenship status. Adetshina later went on to represent Nigeria in the Miss Universe pageant, where she became the first runner-up and Miss Universe Africa and Oceania.
Qoza noted that Rungo had deliberately disregarded the legal consequences of her conduct, adding that “investigations are ongoing into further potential misrepresentation and fraudulent conduct”.
Rungo was arrested while in the company of her grandchild, who will now be taken into the custody of social development services. Qoza assured that Home Affairs is working with the Department of Social Development and SAPS Child Protection to safeguard the well-being of the minor.
Rungo will be handed over to the South African Police Service (SAPS) as she is also the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks).
