She is not the only one.
There's James Chapman from Zimbabwe who serves on the same board which advises the minister of home affairs and work for a foreign funded NGO which regularly takes DHA to court
The Sovereignty Crisis: How South Africa’s Immigration System Became a Playground for Profit and Fraud:
South Africa is facing a quiet but catastrophic erosion of its national sovereignty. What was designed to be a constitutional shield to protect human dignity has been hollowed out, weaponized by foreign NGOs, international criminal syndicates, and opportunistic legal networks. Today, our broken immigration system does not serve the law-abiding citizen; it serves those who profit from its collapse.
Nowhere is this crisis more evident than in the startling compromises at the highest levels of our state advisory structures. Consider the profound contradiction of Stefanie de Saude-Darbandi. Appointed by Minister Leon Schreiber to the Immigration Advisory Board, she sits comfortably on the inside, gaining direct access to the Department of Home Affairs’ (DHA) internal strategies, policies, and systemic vulnerabilities. Yet, on the outside, her legal firm consistently drags the DHA to court, exploiting those exact vulnerabilities for profit.
De Saude-Darbandi claims to be a warrior fighting DHA dysfunction. But look closely at who benefits from her legal victories: individuals who entered South Africa unlawfully, and actors tangled in web-like identity fraud cases. This is not advocacy; it is a business model built entirely on a conflict of interest. It begs a chilling question: Has constitutional advocacy in South Africa simply become a premium service enabling law-breakers?
The real-world cost of this legal acrobatics is paid for by the most vulnerable among us. Take the case of Chidimma Adetshina, where a South African mother’s identity was stolen and weaponized to register a foreign national. While that local child’s life and legal identity remain frozen, trapped in bureaucratic limbo, corporate legal machines fight tirelessly for the beneficiaries of that fraud. We are witnessing the rewriting of our immigration narrative from the inside out, while elite lawyers advise the Minister, sue the state, and watch their firms cash in. This is not justice. It is an insult to the flag.
While ordinary South Africans wait in agonizing lines for hospital beds, housing, and school placements for their children, foreign NGOs spend millions to keep undocumented nationals here. They cloak their actions in the progressive language of "human rights." But when a nation's own Constitution is systematically used to undermine its border security and demographic integrity, it ceases to be rights-based governance, it borders on institutional betrayal.
Our current dysfunctional immigration apparatus is a breeding ground where global neo-colonial capitalism, failed regional states, and international syndicates thrive. To demand order is not xenophobia; it is the fundamental duty of a self-governing republic. Where do we draw the line between individual rights and national sovereignty?
Fixing this broken system and stopping illegal immigration is not an act of malice against our neighbors. It is a necessary act of self-preservation. True liberation for Africa begins with a stable, secure, and law-abiding South Africa. It is time to reclaim our borders, protect our children's identities, and clear out the opportunists exploiting our state from within. #ChidimmaAdetshina
South Africa is cooked! Stefanie de Saude-Darbandi is Chidimma Adetshina’s lawyer. Stefanie de Saude-Darbandi advises the government on immigration policy as a member of the Immigration Advisory Board, yet also represents clients in legal actions against Home Affairs.
Stefanie de Saude-Darbandi, Chidimma Adetshina’s lawyer was appointed by Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber to the Immigration Advisory Board. By day, she advises the govt on immigration policy. By night, she takes the same govt to court on behalf of illegal immigrants.
Mother is Mozambique, father Nigerian and no record showing she was born in SA. In terms of which law does such a person automatically acquire SA citizenship?
Worsening the situation is that when news broke up, she didn't immediately file a defence but took flight to her real country by law - Nigeria where she was well received & bestowed it's beauty & treasure (proof of no statelessness).
After she became bored in her own country, she applied for visa which was denied as she is a prohibited person. Did she challenge the visa decision? Nope. Instead she undermined the state by fraudulently entering through her mother's country border (Lebombo) to prove
I honestly see no basis Home Affairs would lose those case none.
Dear South Africans, how is it that this Chidimma lawyer, De Saudi Darbandi, sits in the board of @HomeAffairsSA when she challenges the very @HomeAffairsSA. What is happening in South Africa, is she trying to prove that we are a Banana Republic??? @JacintaNgobese@Leon_Schreib
Citizens deserve transparency & accountability!
PSC Complaint:
- Conflict of interest
- Poor court filings (ConCourt)
- Litigation info exposure via Scalabrini-IAB member
[10mins] Download doc, input personal info on pg10 & email:
[email protected]
https://t.co/8g9KVEKvoy
Previously there was no evidence in any of our hospitals and clinics of Chidimma being born here but I have a feeling that law firm will cook up a fraudulent case!
Also citizenship isn’t granted because of someone being born in SA so this case is hella confusing.