CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE MEMBER STATES OF THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY 2020 National identity cards While only a minority of African countries had a national identity card at independence, almost all countries had adopted a requirement for adults to hold one by 2019; including all in the SADC except for DRC.266 In the former Portuguese and Belgian territories, national identity cards were introduced immediately after independence, following the model of the colonial power, and are issued by the ministry of the interior. In the former British territories, national identity cards were generally already in place before independence or majority rule in those countries where “pass laws” had regulated freedom of movement of “natives”. In Southern Africa, this was the case in South Africa, South West Africa (Namibia), and Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).267 A national identity card was introduced immediately after independence in Zambia, in Botswana in 1988, and in Eswatini in 1998.268 The last SADC states to introduce a national identity card were Tanzania and Malawi. Although Tanzania adopted legislation to allow for the issue of ID cards in 1986269, and a specific Zanzibar identity document has been in place since 1985, the government only took action to implement a general requirement to hold a national identity card with the establishment of the National Identification Authority (NIDA) in 2008 and the launch of a mass registration process for a new biometric ID in 2011.270 In Malawi, the National Registration Act 2010 provided for the establishment of a national population register for the first time,271 and a mass registration campaign was launched in 2017.272 In DRC, a voter registration card has been used as a provisional identity document, including proof of nationality, pending its replacement by a national ID.273 Possession of an identity card is increasingly key to accessing all sorts of other rights, including not only voting and other rights formally restricted to citizens, but also health care and education, as well as participation in the formal economy. Though it may not be legally described as such, the system for obtaining this documentation is often the main system for obtaining confirmation of nationality. In practice, there are often major problems of state capacity and discrimination at low-level administrative offices in issuing identity cards. Despite this importance, the laws requiring residents to carry an identity card rarely provide within their bill of rights for citizens to have the right to be issued identity documents. Zambia and Zimbabwe are among 266 For the situation in 2004, see Jonathan Klaaren and Bonaventure Rutinwa, Towards the Harmonization of Immigration and Refugee Law in SADC, MIDSA Report 1 (Cape Town: Idasa, 2004) chapter 2, Population registration and identification. 267 For the very particular and influential history of South Africa, see Keith Breckenridge, Biometric State: The Global Politics of Identification and Surveillance in South Africa, 1850 to the Present (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139939546. 268 Zambia National Registration Act No 19 of 1964; Botswana National Registration Act No. 26 of 1986 (implemented 1988); Swaziland Identification Act 1998. According to the World Bank, Eswatini previously “had a paper-based ID that had been issued free of charge since 1971”. World Bank, “The State of Identification Systems in Africa: A Synthesis of Country Assessments” (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2017), 52. 269 Registration and Identification of Persons Act No. 11 of 1986. 270 Manby, “Citizenship and Statelessness in the East African Community”. 271 Malawi National Registration Act No.13 of 2010. 272 “Malawi: 9.19 million registered for national IDs, cards distribution underway”, UN Office in Malawi, 1 December 2017. 273 Exposé des motifs, Loi n° 04/28 du 24 décembre 2004 portant identification et enrôlement des électeurs (telle que modifiée et completée par la Loi n° 16/007 du 29 juin 2016): “Par ailleurs, la carte d'électeur pourra servir dans un premier temps de carte d’identité. Son émission et sa remise donneront un double avantage au citoyen de s'inscrire à l'identification et à l'enrôlement: bénéficier d'un document officiel servant à voter lors des élections et à prouver son identité.” UNHCR / December, 2020 70