Millions of South Africans face statelessness crisis

Tuesday 19 August 2025 - 15:55

By: Sahili Aya

Millions of South Africans face statelessness crisis

Johannesburg, August 19, 2025 – Millions of South Africans are grappling with the consequences of statelessness, three decades after the end of apartheid, facing major challenges in accessing basic services, according to government officials and NGOs.

Authorities have warned about what they describe as a “silent crisis” affecting the country, as millions of people continue to live without identity documents.

“There is a silent crisis in the country, that of undocumented South Africans. Children are attending school without ever being registered at birth,” said Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber during a session at the National Council of Provinces. He cautioned that children without documents are denied access to fundamental rights such as education, healthcare, and social support.

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi also raised the issue but offered lower estimates. “Statistics show that 11% of South Africans are undocumented. Given our population of 60 million, that means about six million people have no identification documents,” he lamented.

The problem is further aggravated by anti-immigrant groups such as Operation Dudula and the March and March Movement, which demand that individuals present valid documents before receiving treatment in public hospitals.

Legal advocacy organizations like Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) have long worked to draw attention to the statelessness crisis and the plight of undocumented citizens. In a submission to Parliament, LHR highlighted the lack of a formal mechanism to identify cases of statelessness or to collect comprehensive data.

“However, indicative estimates, including those from the World Bank, suggest that there were more than 15 million undocumented people in South Africa in 2018,” the group noted.