The Silent Struggles of Stateless Individuals in South Africa

Fri Jan 02 2026 09:47:45 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Millions of stateless people face a life of invisibility and marginalization due to a lack of official documentation in South Africa. Arnold Ncube's story sheds light on the challenges confront those without birth certificates.

In a world where documentation defines existence, the plight of individuals like Arnold Ncube in South Africa illustrates the profound impacts of statelessness. Despite being born in Johannesburg and qualifying for citizenship, Ncube's lack of official papers prevents him from accessing education and secure employment. With estimates of over 10,000 stateless individuals living in South Africa, the article explores their struggles and efforts for recognition. The narrative highlights the urgent need for reforms to address administrative barriers that keep these individuals from fully participating in society.

The Silent Struggles of Stateless Individuals in South Africa

Many people may take their birth certificate, or similar official papers, for granted - hidden in a drawer and rarely seeing the light of day - but for those without one, it can lead to a shadow life or an uncertain existence.

This is thought to affect millions of people around the world, described as stateless, and 25-year-old South African Arnold Ncube is one of those.

Because he has no state-issued documents, washing cars in the backstreets of Thembisa township near Johannesburg is one of the few ways he can make a living.

He was born in Johannesburg and his father is South African, qualifying him for citizenship here. But when he tried to register for secondary school, he realised he didn't have a birth certificate.

Having been abandoned by his parents - his dad left before he was born and his mum when he was 14 - he could not prove his status.

It's a painful thing, he says. You're basically invisible. You don't exist. 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.

He adds that he tries to stay positive but it's been challenging.

When I see my peers, they are done with school now. Whereas I couldn't study further. It's a lot. Depression was once my friend.

Arnold is one of at least an estimated 10,000 stateless people living in South Africa who, despite being born here, are struggling to prove their nationality and access public services.

There are no official statistics available on stateless people here because they tend to slip through the cracks, making the figures reliant on estimates by organisations like the UN's refugee agency, the UNHCR.

Without citizenship, stateless people cannot get documents and struggle to access basic necessities like education and healthcare.

Statelessness is caused by many factors, including administrative barriers and poor record-keeping. Consequently, the real number of stateless individuals is difficult to gauge in many parts of the world.

Human rights lawyer Christy Chitengu was also once stateless but managed to obtain citizenship with the help of Lawyers for Human Rights.

I found out I was stateless at the age of 17. My high school principal called me into her office and told me that she didn't have any documents for me and that she didn't understand how I'd gotten into the school, she recounted.

Statelessness is not just a local problem but a global one, with estimates suggesting as many as 15 million individuals worldwide. Experts advocate for policy changes to allow children born in a country to be registered and to give mothers the right to pass their nationality to their children.

As Arnold plays football with local children, he remains hopeful that his lawyer's efforts will help him achieve the documentation that would allow him to pursue his dreams. I want to go back to school to study computer science. I hope having documents will lead to a brighter future, he says.