While South Africa has on paper made great strides in protecting the rights of the LGBTQI+ community in its 30 years of democracy, the reality is that members of this group who live in poor communities face ongoing discrimination.
This is the view of Sibonelo Ncanana-Trower, civil society engagement officer at Out LGBT Well-being, an organisation working to protect the rights of LGBTQI+ people, on how the country has fared in protecting the rights of the queer community.
They said that in theory South Africa was one of the safest countries in the world.
“South Africa leads when it comes to policy and legislation that seeks to protect the queer community. The government has also taken steps to protect this community.
“For example, the department of justice has a national task team on hate crimes [committed against] LGBTQI+ people whose mandate was changed early this year to include more [identities] than sexual orientation, such as sexual characteristics, gender identity and gender expression.
“The department of justice has for the first time taken a national intervention strategy to parliament, which means it is going to be budgeted for. This is the first time a programme for the LGBTQI+ community has gone to parliament and been budgeted for in this country,” Ncanana-Trower said.
But they lamented the government’s failure to protect the lives of queer people, especially in townships.
“Transgender women in townships still face violence, and even get murdered. The department of justice has also failed in promoting the constitution, which leads to people not understanding that we are all equal. Some people still feel that they are better humans or have more rights than the queer community.
Transgender women in townships still face violence, and even get murdered ... Some people still feel that they are better humans or have more rights than the queer community
— Sibonelo Ncanana-Trower, queer activist
“I believe that if the department of justice and constitutional development had played its role in promoting the constitution, we would be having fewer issues,” Ncanana-Trower said.
The government’s failure to promote the constitution had led to social ills faced not just by the queer community, but also by women and males with feminine bodies who did not express their masculinity in the same way as other men.
"[As the queer community], we are celebrating 30 years of freedom, even though there is still a lot that has to be done. It has to be celebrated that South Africa is the first country to protect sexual orientation in its constitution. We can’t say everything is bad, but what we can say is that there is still a lot more that government needs to do, especially for poor queer [people].
“If you are poor, you are going to be marginalised and not get [access to] the right services. If you are poor and queer, it means [there] is going to be double [the] pressure [on] you,” they said.
Ncanana-Trower said that, while the middle-class queer community enjoyed some freedoms, those in poor areas faced discrimination on a daily basis.
“As a queer person who is middle class, it is easier for me to live. However, I don’t feel safe. I can’t freely hold my partner’s hand if I’m walking down [the street in] Braamfontein. I can’t freely access some services.
“When I wanted to get married, I was told by the marriage officer in Mthatha that they didn’t do it there. I had to go and get married in Libode. However, this issue has been addressed by the government,” they said.
Ncanana-Trower said, while they felt fortunate to live in South Africa, they had anxiety about the possibility of the ruling party losing power, as it had demonstrated its commitment to human rights, whereas other political parties had not.
