LGBT hate in SA: Limpopo gay man beaten and stabbed, then arrested
A young gay man in Limpopo was nearly killed by a homophobic assailant, only to be arrested when he tried to report his attacker.
Activists are outraged at the news of another suspected LGBT hate crime, this time in the town of Thohoyandou.
According to reports received by Mambaonline, Tshifhiwa Ramurunzi, 21, was attacked at a bar in the town on Thursday night while wearing traditionally female clothing.
The victim, who identifies as gay, claims that he was harassed by a man because of his appearance. The verbal abuse escalated and Ramurunzi was beaten and stabbed outside the bar.
He was left bleeding on the ground, surrounded by a pool of blood and broken beer bottles as onlookers took pictures of the scene.
The photos were posted on social media, along with claims that he had been killed. Activists from Limpopo LGBTI, Univen LGBTI and the Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Programme (TVEP) investigated.
They discovered that the victim had been taken to the hospital and was in fact alive.
“We tracked him down,” Victor Raedane from TVEP told Mambaonline. “He stays in a remote village outside the town. We found him sleeping on the couch on Saturday, still bleeding with many stitches.”
Ramurunzi agreed to go to a trauma centre in Thohoyandou and to report the attack to the police.
Shockingly, when he laid a charge at the police station on Monday afternoon he was arrested because his alleged attacker, who was also arrested, had filed an assault charge against him.
Infuriated, the activists gathered outside the police station in protest against the arrest. After they spoke to a Brigadier Linda, Ramurunzi – who was still recovering from his wounds – was placed in a single cell for his protection.
“He was detained in his bleeding condition,” said a distraught Raedane. “He has so many lacerations, on his face, back and front.”
On Tuesday morning, after the prosecutor reviewed the statements in the case, the charges against Ramurunzi were dropped and he was released. It’s expected that his alleged attacked will be tried, possibly for attempted murder.
“He [Ramurunzi] is now with members of the LGBT community,” said Raedane. “We are referring him back to hospital and finding a safe house where he can recuperate and to make sure that he is safe.”
Lerato Phalakatshela, Hate Crime Manager at OUT LGBT Well-being and spokesperson for the Love Not Hate campaign, described the attack as “horrific”.
“It’s quite scary and shocking that a human would attack another human like that,” he said.
“It’s also a clear indication of secondary victimisation of the victim by the police. How do arrest somebody that’s in that condition?” he asked.
Last month, Lucia Naido, a young lesbian woman, was stabbed to death on the night of her birthday in Katlehong on Johannesburg’s East Rand, in another suspected hate crime.
Mambaonline has learned that the much vaunted government-led “Rapid Response Team”, which is meant to monitor and fast track LGBTI related hate crimes, last met almost a year ago, in June 2015.
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It is all nice and all when the Government and well off organisations talk about the Constitution of South Africa as if it is a true reflection of the South African society; when it is, however, merely an ideology that South African law has adopted to be on track with the times but is a contradiction of South African society.
If Homophobic attacks of this nature happen around the country numerously and never make front page news, does that tell you that we live in society that is truly against such barbaric acts of hate crime? Does it tell you that every South African is willing to enter into the discourse of Diversity, Equality and Humanity?
How does an organisation meant to deal with such inhumane acts of hate crime not meet in about a year as if hate crimes suddenly stopped for a recess? Have the members of the Rapid Response Team been getting their salaries? Knowing government, definitely.
It is good to see that some LGBTI orientated organisations are still pulling their weight and the actions that individuals took to get to the bottom of this matter is commendable. However, we cannot wait for such isolated incidents to happen before activism happens. We need Activism and strongly; and no, Pride is not activism. Not any more at least. What Pride is, to me, is the government pleasing the LGBTI+ community by allowing the marches (or parties rather) to happen and a way for some enterprises to make money. That is why when a LGBTI organisation at University of Johannesburg tells me ” we go to all Prides ” in an attempt to get me to join it, I do not join.
We do not need Pride as the LGBTI+ community, we need platforms (real platforms) to raise awareness, we need Action to be taken when acts of Hate Crime happen, we need justice for minorities in South Africa and we need National support to do this. We need real representation in Media. This incident shakes the reality of the South Africa we think we live in. We need to do more, as a country, than bleat about a Constitution that does reflect society.
Homophobia Must Fall!
they have to lock him and throw the key away he is heartless