Even if born in South Africa, some people do not have a birth certificate and cannot access official services. 25-year-old Arnold Ncube is one of them. Although he has the right to be South African by birth, because of missing documents he could not continue school and earns a living washing cars.
Stateless people feel invisible, as if they do not exist. They cannot open a bank account, get official jobs, or access government services. About 10,000 people in South Africa live in this situation, but there are no official statistics.
Christy Chitengu was also previously undocumented and only got South African citizenship three years ago with the help of lawyers. According to her, citizenship is not a reward, it is the right of every person to live with dignity.
Experts say millions of people worldwide live without citizenship. Solving the problem requires registering refugees and their children at birth and giving mothers the right to pass citizenship to their children.
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