When Arnold Ncube was unable to enroll in secondary school, he realised he lacked the one document most of us take for granted – a birth certificate. Born in Johannesburg to a South African father, the 25-year-old is one of an estimated 10,000 stateless individuals living in the country, invisible to the system and struggling to access basic services.
Without official state-issued papers, Arnold’s options are limited. He earns a meager living washing cars in the backstreets of Thembisa township, his dreams of further education and a stable career dashed. “You’re basically invisible. You don’t exist,” he laments. “It’s like you’re living in the shadows. You don’t have a bank account, you can’t apply for a decent job that you can earn a living with.”
Arnold’s story is not unique. Across South Africa, there are millions of people worldwide who find themselves in a legal limbo, unable to prove their nationality. Statelessness can arise from a variety of factors, including administrative barriers and poor record-keeping. For those affected, it means being denied access to education, healthcare, and other fundamental rights.
Christy Chitengu, a human rights lawyer, knows this struggle firsthand. Born in Johannesburg to Zimbabwean parents, she only discovered she was stateless at the age of 17, when her high school principal informed her that the school had no official documents for her. “I was born in Johannesburg to two foreign parents and at my birth I was given a handwritten South African birth certificate,” she explains. “But official in South Africa need a printed certificate.”
Tackling the issue of statelessness is no easy task. South Africa’s authorities have long grappled with the influx of undocumented migrants, leading to a crackdown that has inadvertently trapped many children born in the country. Christy, however, believes that citizenship is not a reward but an entitlement. “I think if we look at it through that lens, we realise that there’s nothing that we lose by recognising a child who would otherwise not be able to go to primary school or receive healthcare.”
Globally, the problem of statelessness is staggering, with an estimated 4.5 million individuals affected, and some experts suggesting the figure could be as high as 15 million. Addressing this crisis requires policy changes, including allowing refugees to register their children where they’re born and granting mothers the right to pass their nationality to their children.
For Arnold and others like him, the fight for recognition and a sense of belonging continues. With the help of a lawyer, he is now working to secure the documents that will open the door to a brighter future – one where he can return to school and pursue his dreams of a career in computer science. It is a struggle that highlights the urgent need to ensure that no one is left invisible, without the basic rights and opportunities that most of us take for granted.
