Fury at lesbian slur

Screengrab: Supplied

Screengrab: Supplied

Published Feb 24, 2017

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Durban – Kwanele Mbatha, president of the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s (UKZN) Student Representative Council’s (SRC) Westville branch, has come under fire after posting a “homophobic slur” on a social media site – a slur he says he does not remember posting.

The Facebook post was deleted soon afterwards, but not before it was screen-grabbed and forwarded to others.

The DA’s Martin Meyer shared the post on his Facebook wall and a flurry of comments followed, all demanding that action be taken against Mbatha for his remarks.

Via his Facebook account, under the name Wothi Shandu KaNaba, Mbatha said: “Period pains remind lesbians that they’ll never be men #Word!!!”

Thuli Mjwara, programme manager at the Gay and Lesbian Network in Pietermaritzburg, said the network was “disappointed and disgusted” by Mbatha’s post and called for a public apology from Mbatha and intervention from UKZN.

“This shows how miseducated youth are about sexual orientation and the patriarchal power over the sexual health of women. Lesbians are not women who want to be men, neither do they pretend to be men.

“This post highlights the urgency of the inclusion of diversity within life orientation lessons to address myths and stereotypes that, in some cases, lead to the victimisation and rape of those who are sexually and gender diverse,” said Mjwara.

Sibo Sibi, Central SRC member and chairman of the Democratic Alliance Students Organisation, said they strongly condemned the statement.

“The protection of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transexual (LGBT) rights in South Africa is based on Section 9 of the constitution, which forbids discrimination on the basis of sex, gender or sexual orientation.

“These utterances seek to undermine the very fundamental rights of others,” said Sibi.

He said Mbatha must be disciplined and the matter investigated further by UKZN.

“Section 9.5 of the university code of conduct states that a student will be guilty of misconduct if he or she acts in an insulting, indecent or improper manner towards another student, a university personnel member or functionary, or a member of the public.

“And although this statement was not necessarily directed at an individual, it is still directed at the lesbian community,” said Sibi.

Normah Zondo, acting executive director of corporate relations at UKZN, said: “University management has been alerted to the comment on social media and is currently investigating.

“While the university management respects the right to freedom of speech as enshrined in the South African constitution, all students and members of staff are cautioned to refrain from making comments that may cause offence and/or are defamatory in any form.”

Mbatha on Thursday told the Daily News he did not remember posting the comment. He said he “doesn’t know what happened”, and that he recently changed his password.

The Westville SRC president said he was aware the university was investigating and said he had not been suspended in the interim.

Noxolo Bhengu, president of UKZN Central campus, was not aware of the post. She added that UKZN management had not informed the SRC and it would not be taking action against Mbatha.

Daily News

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