A new petition is raising questions about accountability and transparency from South Africa’s National Task Team (NTT), which was established to respond to violence against the LGBTIQ+ community.
The NTT was created in 2011 by the then Minister of Justice, with the primary objective of developing a National Intervention Strategy (NIS) to address violence, particularly the murder and sexual assault of Black lesbian women in townships.
Provincial Task Teams (PTTs) were then established under the NTT to enable context-specific, localised interventions, while national and provincial Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) were formed to monitor hate crime cases in the justice system, in collaboration with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the South African Police Service (SAPS), and civil society organisations.
Overseen by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the NTT includes both government representatives and members of civil society organisations, with each sector nominating a co-chair.
Petition Demands Accountability and Action
The petition calls on Deputy Minister of Justice Andries Nel and the NTT to urgently demonstrate transparency, public accountability, and improved effectiveness in tackling the crisis of violence and discrimination against LGBTIQ+ individuals in the country.
Specifically, the petition demands a detailed public breakdown of the NTT’s work, including budget allocations, provincial training efforts and outcomes, and survivor support measures. It also calls for the urgent appointment of a civil society co-chair—a position that has been vacant since 2024—to ensure grassroots perspectives shape the team’s agenda.
The petition further urges the NTT to expand its mandate to include same-sex intimate partner violence, which is currently excluded from national GBV frameworks, despite its impact on the LGBTIQ+ community.
With the signing of the Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill into law in May 2024, the petition insists that the NTT must now act decisively to implement this legislation and ensure that it leads to real, tangible change.
A Call Sparked by a Lack of Visibility
Orthalia Kunene, a queer activist and academic, told MambaOnline that she launched the petition while conducting research for her MA at UNISA.
“I realised that there’s no data on GBV (gender-based violence) that records the sexuality of people attacked. It’s generally just labelled as GBV for women and children. There was literally nothing,” she explained.
Kunene said she also struggled to find any public records of the NTT’s work. “So how do we hold them accountable to ensure they are sustainable and working for us?” she asked.
In the petition, which forms part of her work for the Amandla.mobi Campaigner Fellowship, Kunene highlighted the recent homophobic attack on Qhawe Ndabeni, a young gay man from Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape, a case in which there have not been any arrests.
“It’s time for LGBTIQ+ people to ask the right questions, to know what the NTT is doing, and to make sure what’s on paper is actually implemented.” She added: “The National Task Team must be more visible for people like me.”
Department of Justice Responds
In response to the petition and questions posed by MambaOnline, the Department of Justice sought to provide clarity and context.
Kgalalelo Masibi, Chief Director of Communication Management at the Department, told MambaOnline that in 2023, Cabinet approved a broadened mandate for the NTT and a revised Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) NIS that now addresses not only violence but also a wider range of human rights challenges faced by LGBTIQ+ individuals.
The revised NIS for 2023–2027 includes priorities such as legal gender recognition, banning intersex genital mutilation, and embedding LGBTIQ+ rights within broader socio-economic and political structures.
The Department also clarified that the official name of the NTT is the “NTT on SOGIESC Matters”—not the “National LGBTI+ Task Team,” as cited in the petition.
Transparency and Public Reporting
Masibi noted that the NTT “is a partnership between government and civil society and thus relies on both sectors to ensure its success.”
She said the NTT’s activities are formally documented in the Annual Report on the Implementation of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, tabled in Parliament each September. The most recent version publicly available covers the 2023/2024 period.
However, that report offers very limited detail. It notes only three SOGIESC-related training sessions by the National Task Team in that year, reaching a total of 76 officials nationwide.
While other related training by the Justice Department and other government departments is recorded, we could find no information on the NTT’s work, budget, frequency of meetings, composition, or success in monitoring of hate crime cases.
Masibi acknowledged ongoing challenges, including low public awareness, limited resources, and resistance from certain sectors of society, which all hamper full implementation of the revised NIS strategy.
Hate Crime Monitoring and Civil Society Co-Leadership
The Department stated that hate crimes against LGBTIQ+ individuals are actively documented and monitored through the RRTs, with updates shared at each NTT meeting.
Details are not always made public during active investigations, but convictions are tracked and discussed internally. However, the Department did not provide us with figures on how many cases have been monitored or how frequently NTT meetings have taken place.
On the issue of the vacant civil society co-chair position, Masibi said: “Government calls on these civil society bodies to urgently nominate a co-chair to represent civil society on the NTT.”
Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Act Implementation
Regarding the new Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Act, Masibi said that its implementation “is dependent on the finalisation of regulations” and that the department “is in the process of finalising these regulations.”
She did not, however, commit to a date when these regulations will be in place.
Civil Society Weighs In
Sibonelo Ncanana-Trower, commenting as a civil society member of the NTT and RTT on behalf of OUT LGBT Well-being, acknowledged the issues raised in Kunene’s petition.
“Perhaps it was a misstep to assume that all LGBTIQ+ organisations were aware of the NTT’s work and progress reports,” he told MambaOnline. He said that there was an expectation that Provincial Task Teams would serve as channels to report back to civil society organisations within their provinces. “Unfortunately, this hasn’t consistently happened, and that gap must be addressed,” he added.
Ncanana-Trower expressed support for making NTT reports and updates on the NIS public as “a positive and transparent step forward,” noting that, “It would help rebuild trust and allow more organisations to engage meaningfully with the process.”
He further stated: “As civil society, we also need to take accountability for our part. One of the key challenges we’ve faced is the lack of resources to convene, which has delayed the election of a civil society co-chair. This is currently being addressed, and I am hopeful that we will resolve this soon.”
Ncanana-Trower noted that “other challenges remain, including uneven representation from provinces, limited institutional support, and the continued marginalisation of rural and grassroots voices. We need to collectively do better.”
He added: “This petition is not a threat; it is a necessary reminder that transparency, inclusion, and action matter.”
The Gap Between the NTT and the Community
The petition reveals a clear disconnect between the work of the National Task Team and the LGBTIQ+ communities it aims to serve. The NTT engages in little to no communication with the public, offering limited accessible transparency and reporting – not just to activists but also to the broader LGBTIQ+ community.
Most LGBTIQ+ people in South Africa are likely unaware of the NTT’s structure, mandate or impact. This is not necessarily the result of bad faith, but rather likely reflects a lack of communication and, on the part of civil society, a lack of resources.
Nonetheless, as Kunene rightly argues, without visibility and open reporting, the NTT cannot be held accountable. This lack of transparency undermines its credibility and legitimacy in the very communities it was established to protect.
The petition can be signed here.
One Response
in 2011, after publicizing THE FACE OF CORRECTIVE RAPE-and gaining worldwide attention on the issue of corrective rape in South Africa, including two petitions that received over 1 million signatures, I attended a meeting at Parliament with Ndumie Funda where I was spokesperson – based on reforms I drafted and presented to SAP and Min of Justice Radebe- requesting the government establish a GVT and Civil Society joint task team specifically on the issue of corrective rape of lesbians. Some orgs tried to hijack our meeting to broaden the scope. We succeeded in establishing the Task Team. So much has occurred since. Transparency is important. I returned to the USA back in 2011 hoping the TT would deliver given all the competent activists it brought together.