AT 45, Philimon Mashava has never had a bank account or a phone in his name. He has never had a birth certificate and, without documents, Mashava\u2019s stateless existence has meant him missing out on school and countless job opportunities, as employers want some form of identification.<\/p>\n
Being locked out of citizenship in the southern African country is an issue for an estimated 300 000 Zimbabweans, according to Amnesty International.<\/p>\n
Mashava has survived by street trading. Born in Chipinge to a Mozambican father who returned home and a Zimbabwean mother who died young, his five children are on track to inherit his statelessness.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting an ID has always been tough because my father\u2019s relatives are in Mozambique and there is no way of getting in contact with them. No one knows exactly where they are,\u201d Mashava says from his home in Hopley, 10km from the centre of the capital, Harare.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just grew up without a birth certificate. This is my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
And his children\u2019s too, as without one, Mashava\u2019s 16-year-old son cannot sit his school examinations.<\/p>\n