GAY MAN MURDERED IN EAST LONDON

A gay man has been found murdered in the Duncan Village township in East London, although it’s unclear if the murder was related to his sexual orientation.

According to a report on The Daily Dispatch’s website, openly-gay Vuyisa Dayisi (28) had been out drinking on Saturday night with a friend, Mongezi Nyebe, at a tavern, after which he headed home.

The next morning, Dayisi’s body was found outside by neighbours. His pants were pulled down and he had no visible injuries.

The neighbours recalled hearing sounds that could have been from some kind of struggle but at the time they dismissed the noise as strong winds blowing against their shacks.

While there was speculation by some locals that Dayisi could have been killed because he was gay, others insisted that the he was accepted by the community.

“Vuyisa was loved in this neighbourhood, gay as he was,” his friend Mongezi Nyebe told the newspaper.

South Africa’s gay and lesbian community has been rocked by a spate of brutal hate crime murders across the country in recent weeks.

On Wednesday, LGBTI groups will hold a 67 minute Mandela Day protest against hate crimes at the Library Gardens (Market and Simmonds street) from 11 a.m. in downtown Johannesburg.

They are also calling for a 67 minute candlelight vigil at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, across South Africa and the world, in memory of LGBTI people killed in hate crime attacks.

In Cape Town, the Gay Flag of South Africa will on Wednesday also hold 67 minutes of protest calling “for the ANC to speak up for the rights and lives of LGBTI South Africans, as well as [as] a remembrance for the lives lost in the last month”.

The protest will depart from St. George’s Cathedral, on Wale Street, in Cape Town to the ANC offices at the Sahara Building in Thibault Square.

For more information on the Johannesburg protest, contact Dikeledi Sibanda of FEW on 011 403 1907 or 076 512 3874.

For more information on the Cape Town protest, contact Eugene Brockman of Gay Flag of South Africa on 072 468 1171.