HATE CRIME PROTEST ON MONDAY

A protest march has been planned for the resumption of the trial of the nine men accused of murdering 19 year old lesbian Zoliswa Nkonyana.

The trial is set to restart on Monday 15 March at the Khayelitsha Magistrates Court. This after more than three years and 25 delays and postponements; a state of affairs that has left the Cape’s LGBT community up in arms.

The most-recent postponement in November 2009 was reportedly due to one of the accused being granted leave to attend his grandmother’s funeral in Durban.

The march, which has been organised by the Western Cape 070707 End Hate Alliance, is set to commence at 10am on Monday at the Khayelitsha TAC offices and will then move to the court.

Organisers have asked participants to bring placards and to wear t-shirts with appropriate messaging. Various alliance representatives will be monitoring the trial.

Nkonyana was beaten, stoned and stabbed to death by a group of around 20 men in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape on 4 February 2006 – just meters from her home – apparently for being a lesbian.