COMPLAINT LAID AGAINST PAC YOUTH LEAGUE

A leading figure in the LGBT community has officially laid a complaint against Pitso Mphasha, head of the Pan Africanist Youth Congress of Azania (Payco), for hate speech.

Mphasha and the league are reported to have slated the television soap Generations for its depiction of gay characters. Mphasha further described gays and lesbians as un-African, “confused” and “totally immoral”. He further slammed the Constitution and said that there was no place for LGBT people in Africa.

In response, attorney Coenraad Kukkuk – who is the publisher of the Gayspeak e-newsletter and one of the organisers of the Mr. Gay SA pageant – on Thursday laid a complaint against Payco and its president with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).

In his complaint, Kukkuk said: “I view this as a threat to gay people and I am of the opinion that this qualifies as hate speech.”

Meanwhile, SA GLAAD has also condemned Mphasha’s statements, saying that they imply that being gay or lesbian is “unnatural” and somehow alien to Africa and African people.

“This sort of blatant hate speech incites hatred and encourages violent acts against the pink community, particularly in the townships of South Africa, where victimisation, murder and so-called ‘corrective rape’ are daily features of the lives of black gays and lesbians living there,” said the organisation in a statement.

“This sort of publicly expressed hatred is reckless and irresponsible and endangers the lives of innocent people for no reason other than the poorly thought out bigotry and prejudice of the sort which was responsible for Apartheid.”

The organisation urged the LGBT community to submit their complaints to the SAHRC.

Complaints from the public can be sent to the SAHRC via the following e-mail addresses: smutlwane@sahrc.org.za; lmolepo@sahrc.org.za; mmoletsane@sahrc.org.za; vmoaga@sahrc.org.za; jsteffers@sahrc.org.za and LMmbadi@sahrc.org.za.