Chidimma’s mother can use SA ID and passport until Home Affairs withdraws them, says department

Former Miss SA Top 15 contestant, Chidimma Adetshina and her mother have recently been issued with the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act letters by the Department of Home Affairs.

This comes after Adetshina’s mother, a prime suspect in an advanced fraud and corruption investigation, left South Africa and travelled to Nigeria, despite being a key figure in a high-profile case involving circumventing immigration controls.

Spokesperson to the minister Duwayne Esau confirmed that the issue was taken over by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks).

He said the issuing of the letters was a step taken prior to retrieving the alleged fraudulent IDs and passports.

ActionSA demands answers from Home Affairs

On Sunday, ActionSA wrote to the Department of Home Affairs seeking clarification on how Adetshina’s mother was able to travel to Nigeria while still being probed.

“Given the nature of the investigation, which involves circumventing immigration controls, it is reasonable to expect that any travel would be restricted, especially to Nigeria,” said ActionSA’s Lerato Ngobeni in a statement.

However, Esau refuted this train of thought saying: “The owners of these documents can use them until they have been withdrawn by the department”.

The party cited the “alarming” figures of fraudulent applications originating from Nigeria, as highlighted in the June 2022 report by the Ministerial Committee on the Issuance of Permits and Visas.

“The report revealed that 12,177 out of 36,647 detected fraudulent applications came from Nigeria, underscoring the scale of the problem.”

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Additionally, it highlighted the department in August assured the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs that the investigation, involving the Hawks, was at an advanced stage.

“The suspect’s appearance in Nigeria during a televised broadcast of Miss Universe Nigeria has raised serious concerns about the effectiveness of South Africa’s immigration regime,” the party shared its concern.

ActionSA demanded that the government take a more stringent stance to protect South Africa’s sovereignty and immigration regime.

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