On Wednesday, according to a report by Mamba Online, representatives of several LGBTQ+ communities in South Africa for a press conference. The aim of the Press conference was to address the current spate of homophobic hate crimes that have seen at least six (known) individuals murdered in just over two months.
At the press conference, leaders of LGBTQ+ communities presented a joint statement, signed by more than 20 LGBTIQ+ and human rights groups from across the nation. The statement called out the government and others for not taking a stand against LGBTIQ+ stigma and discrimination.
“Over the past two and [a] half months, South Africa’s LGBTIQ+ community has been rocked by a series of brutal hate crimes against its members — from KwaZulu-Natal to Gauteng, from the Eastern Cape to the Western Cape. At least six lives — that we know of — have been snuffed out in cold blood,” the statement reads. “South Africa’s Constitution does not just come with rights but also responsibilities, including leading by example. Our great continent is still plagued by LGBTIQ+ hate that has roots in its colonial past; a twisted heritage that we simply refuse to acknowledge or shake off and have misguidedly embraced as African.”
“Right now, it feels like there is a crisis happening. People are scared to leave their houses and people are scared to be themselves. And under our Constitution, we can’t have that. LGBTIQ+ people are part of South Africa and therefore they have the same rights as heterosexual or cisgender people,” Roché Kester, OUT’s Hate Crimes Manager, said.
“Religious leaders who stand on the pulpit, they preach ‘God is love’ but on the other hand, they preach hate towards LGBTI people and equate us and our lives as worse than animals. That is unspeakable,” Virginia Magwaza of The Other Foundation said. “We cannot have leaders like that. We cannot have people who are listened to by thousands of people perpetrating hate, instilling these teachings and this thinking to people who actually look up to them.”
In the statement, the groups demanded that the government of South Africa “urgently finalise and enact the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill, which was first drafted in 2016 and was approved by Cabinet in 2018”, “properly fund, resource and restore the functionality of failing entities such as the National and Provincial Task Teams and the Rapid Response Team that were meant to address violence against LGBTIQ+ South Africans”, “Create dedicated LGBTIQ+ Desks in each province to address the needs of LGBTIQ+ citizens” amongst many others.
They also demanded that religious, traditional and spiritual leaders speak out and condemn the violence perpetrated against the LGBTIQ+ community as unacceptable and immoral, and restrain from using religious and cultural dogma to exclude LGBTQ+ persons.
“Finally, we demand that all citizens of South Africa take responsibility to stamp out the abhorrent queerphobic views and actions of their friends, families and neighbours,” the statement adds.
