Local poet Ntsiki Mazwai is claiming that radio stations aren't playing her song "Is It OK?" because of its queer subject matter.
The controversial poet says that she was "hurt" by the fact that her song "Is It OK?" — which highlights gay and lesbian killings — is being ignored, and claims it is a sign of South Africa's "homophobic society".
Speaking to TsishaLIVE, Mazwai voiced her displeasure with the treatment from radio stations as radio bosses thought her bringing awareness to the killings was a good idea, yet the song is still been ignored.
"I found a lot of resistance from radio stations. I sent to most compilers in the country and they would be excited and be like 'Yah! Great idea'. But they weren't really playing the song."
A post shared by Ntsiki Mazwai(@miss_ntsiki_mazwai) on Jul 24, 2018 at 9:24pm PDT
Mazwai also said South Africa is very quiet when it comes to LGBTQI+ issues and everyone's voices need to be heard in order to make a change.
"I feel like our country is quite shy about LGBTIQ issues and I think it is important that we have a gay and lesbian voice in our society because we live amongst each other.
"If we say we live in an equal society, that must show. Every voice should be heard. It made me conscious that we live in quite a homophobic society that doesn't have room for gay people to just speak on the same footing as straight people."