Triangle Project’s World AIDS Day and 16 Days of Activism community event in Cape Town made one message clear: the fight for justice, safety, and equitable access to healthcare must be led by the youth.
On the 1st of December 2025, Triangle Project hosted a combined World AIDS Day and 16 Days of Activism event, bringing together various community organisations for a day of music and performance, commemorating those who have had their lives taken by hate crimes, HIV, and AIDS.
The day kicked off with a gathering of over 150 beside the Liesbeek River before a solidarity march to the Triangle Project offices in Observatory.
The programme that followed was led by Theatre for a Change, an initiative run through Triangle Project that equips youth with the skills to advocate for social change through the performing arts.
Honouring Victims Through Art and Performance
The event began beside the Liesbeek River, where members of Theatre for a Change performed several songs and poems honouring those who have died due to HIV, AIDS and hate crimes, including a spoken word piece in honour of Liyabona Mabishi – a 16-year-old girl who was stabbed to death in 2020 in Khayelitsha in a suspected homophobic hate crime.
“Today’s event was born from a place of deep pain, deep love and fierce hope,” said Zola Dalani, a clinic assistant and outreach worker at Triangle Project. “Every day in my work, I meet people who carry heavy stories. The homeless youth too scared to get tested, the survivor who feels invisible, the queer person harassed online, the sex worker denied safety, the neighbour living with HIV who still whispers their truth in fear… Too many of our people are suffering in silence,” she added.
Attendees marched from the river to the Triangle Project offices, carrying red and purple balloons to represent World AIDS Day and 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence, respectively.
The programme continued at the Triangle Project offices with theatre, dance and musical performances by Theatre for a Change, Amava Skills and Education, and Sbosh SA. Performances were interspersed with informational talks from Triangle Project, SafePlace International, SWEAT, Majawie Safe Space and Free Gender, among other community organisations, about the services and support they offer to the local LGBTQ+ community.
“Theatre is a powerful tool for advocacy and resistance because it is accessible and widely understood”, said Ref, the coordinator of Theatre for a Change. “Creative expression enables participants to challenge harmful community norms and amplify youth voices in decision-making spaces.”
Youth Voices Shaping New Narratives
One of the key messages of the event was the crucial role of youth-led education on HIV, AIDS and hate crimes in challenging queerphobic narratives and discrimination in society. “Youth-led initiatives are crucial in combating HIV/AIDS and hate crimes because, let’s be real, young people are often the ones most affected by these issues,” asserted Prince, a Theatre for a Change member.
Fellow Theatre for Change member Leetha added, “It’s important for youth to lead because we are the generation that can shift the narrative. We’re the ones who can challenge harmful beliefs, educate our peers, and build safer, more inclusive spaces. When youth lead, awareness becomes relatable, action becomes louder, and the future becomes more hopeful.”
The importance of beginning these conversations at a young age was emphasised by Mlandeli Mgobo, the founder of Amava Skills and Education, an after-school programme for children in Gugulethu: “I want these kids to be educated on what is going on where we are living. I know what is happening to lesbians [in South Africa], so I called [Triangle Project] to work with me so we can teach people from the ground up.”
World AIDS Day in a Year of Crisis
The significance of World AIDS Day is pressing in 2025, a year that has proven difficult for healthcare workers and activists working to combat HIV and AIDS, both in South Africa and globally.
In January, America’s Trump Administration signed an executive order that suspended funding for PEPFAR, a US foreign aid programme that funded local clinics and NGOs providing treatment for patients with HIV. This has presented unique challenges for LGBTQ+ people living with HIV.
“…There were alternative healthcare centres that were LGBTQI-friendly and there was no judgement,” explained Ayamangalisa Badli, a clinic assistant and outreach worker at Triangle Project. “Since the Trump situation, most American funders [have] retracted. There has been a decline in access because one of the main reasons why there was a need for those safer healthcare centres for LGBTQI persons was because of the discrimination and stigmatisation of our people. Now we have to send our siblings back to government centres … access is limited in the sense that our siblings are scared to go to these centres because of discrimination.”
But even in the face of this crisis, community organisations, activists and healthcare workers continue to push for access to ARVs, PrEP and psychosocial care for people living with HIV.
As Badli put it, “We’re slowly moving in, we are infiltrating the public services. Slowly but surely, they are getting with the programme, they are getting medication, patients are being accepted even though there is still discrimination there.”
