The Aurum Institute has revealed that transgender clients of its Pop Inn clinic in Pretoria were targeted with transphobic posters in women’s public toilets, and alleges that the landlord tried to stop them from using the facilities before ending the clinic’s lease.
The clinic has operated at Loftus Park in Arcadia, Pretoria, since 2021. It provides vital health services to men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender communities in the city, including primary healthcare, HIV, STI, and mental health support.
It’s one of the few facilities still offering free health services to MSM and transgender individuals in the wake of devastating funding cuts by the US government earlier this year.
Posters threatening transphobic violence
While the clinic initially operated without incident, things took a disturbing turn in March 2024. Aurum Institute Technical Director, Jacqueline Pienaar, says she discovered transphobic posters in the women’s public toilets. The posters threatened violence against transgender women.
They read: “If you belong in this bathroom [male bathroom symbol] and follow my daughter or my wife into this bathroom [female bathroom symbol] you’re gonna need this bathroom [disabled bathroom symbol].”
The posters appeared to directly target Aurum Pop Inn’s transgender clients, who used the facilities shared by the building’s tenants and their clients.
Pienaar tore down the posters and reported them to the building’s landlord, Strive Property Specialists. She says there was no response and Aurum’s head office then raised the matter with Strive in April.
Allegations of bathroom access restrictions
According to Pienaar, Strive claimed a tenant had complained about transgender women using the toilets. She alleges that in June 2024, Strive told Aurum it no longer wanted its transgender clients to use the women’s facilities.
The landlord allegedly suggested that Aurum rent parking bays to install portable toilets for its trans clients to use in the parking lot.
“We refused,” says an indignant Pienaar. Strive then allegedly proposed that the trans clients use disabled toilets instead of the women’s toilets. “That’s also not a solution. That’s also discrimination,” alleges Pienaar, claiming that Strive “refused to put anything in writing.”
“Our clients have a right to use internal facilities like any other tenant and their clients,” she says. “This is active discrimination to isolate one specific group of people based on their gender identity, and exclude them from services available to all other people in the same building.”
The matter then quietened down, with the clinic’s trans clients continuing to use the women’s bathrooms without further incident.
Lease termination dispute
In April 2025, Aurum informed Strive that it wished to renew its lease, which was due to expire in September. According to Pienaar, Strive instead served the organisation with a termination letter without explanation.
“When we asked for a meeting with them, Strive just said, ‘No, there will be no further engagement’,” she explains. “We always pay our bills on time and have never had any other problems with centre management.”
Pienaar believes Strive’s refusal to renew the lease was motivated by its unease with its transgender clients using the bathroom. “Their values do not align with South African values, and their conduct is a violation of human rights and constitutional legal protections,” she alleges of Strive.
The Aurum Institute has now been forced to find a new location for the clinic and cover the costs of restoring the Loftus Park space, moving, and setting up elsewhere — expenses not provided for in its funding.
“To afford the move out of Loftus and into new premises, we have to retrench staff. The move is costing us, a non-profit, a great deal of money that is supposed to go to the clients and towards service provision,” says Pienaar.
Pienaar confirmed that the Pretoria Aurum Pop Inn clinic has now relocated to Capital Junction in Frances Baard Street, Hatfield.
Strive responds
MambaOnline contacted Strive to respond to Pienaar’s claims. We asked about the alleged tenant complaint, their policy on bathroom access for transgender people, steps taken to investigate the posters, their response to discrimination claims, and their decision not to renew the lease.
In response, Strive declined to address most of our questions but provided the following statement denying the discrimination claims:
“With reference to your mail addressed to Emerge Marketing and Strive on 18 September 2025, please see below our response.
“We can confirm that the staff members at the Aurum Institute were not denied entry into the bathrooms.
“The allegations that the non-renewal of the lease agreement was unfair is not a factual representation of what transpired. Over the past year, the Landlord has adopted a revised leasing strategy for the retail and offices in the precinct and as part of this process, certain leases — including that of the Aurum Institute — have been identified as not being renewed upon expiry. The decision not to renew the lease was made purely on commercial grounds and forms part of the Landlord’s broader strategic direction. It is in no way related to the nature of the Aurum Institute’s business or the community it serves.
“Unfortunately, Centre Management and the cleaners on site cannot be held accountable for the actions of the public. We do endeavour to keep all communal areas clean and pleasant for all patrons.”
