A sad story of statelessness in Eswatini

My name is Siphesihle Nkambule, I am 19 years old residing in Zombodze with my son and boyfriend. My mother passed on when I was young and my brother stay in a near-by community. My mother did not have national registration documents and for that reason I was not able to acquire a birth certificate. This is regardless of my mother having been born in Eswatini and with my father being a foreigner I am also unable to use his nationality documents to register. I am also aware of my maternal side family as they are the ones who can assist me. Due to my lack of nationality documents, I am regarded as a non-Swazi, which means I’m stateless although my father has also been residing in Eswatini. Eswatini is a country I have known for the rest of my life. I was also not able to complete primary school which is freely provided to Swazi citizens. Not having nationality documents have impacted my life negatively, without education. I’m basically unemployable, even my baby does not have nationality documents even though his father is Swazi. The baby is sometimes discriminated against in getting health care services since health facilities require nationality proof. My dream was to be a nurse but all that was shuttered when I was told I can no longer attend school as I don’t have nationality documents. I am aware that there are many people like me in Eswatini who cannot access health care and education especially the free primary education and be employable like everyone else. As a young person faced with all these hardships, I am pleading to the Eswatini government to assist in ensuring that we also get nationality documents, so that we can all benefit as citizens of Eswatini and fully enjoy basic human rights including the right to nationality. If only our government can address this issue with urgency because we cannot carry on with all the hardships, we are faced with. If only my mother was still alive all this nightmare would not be my reality because I also deserve to have Swazi nationality documents since my mother is Swazi by birth as per legislation in place.