South Africa’s main opposition Democratic Alliance has requested President Cyril Ramaphosa to rebuke Deputy President David Mabuza for failing to condemn human rights abuses levelled against Africa’s homosexual community, APA learnt on Friday.
The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party’s ire against Mabuza on Friday was prompted by Mabuza’s decline to support the legality and existence of the Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) community in Africa.
Responding to a question from a DA legislator during a session in the National Council of Provinces (Chiefs’ parliament) about whether he would take a stand to condemn the abuses in Africa, Mabuza on Thursday said: “Let’s be decent and keep our mouths shut” about defending the homosexual community in Africa.
This response angered DA parliamentary leader John Steenhuisen who accused the government of being cowards.
“It cannot be this government’s stance to keep quiet in the face of an assault on the rights of fellow Africans,” the opposition lawmaker said.
He said the deputy president was failing in one of his roles of assisting his boss in advancing the promotion of human rights across Africa.
He called on Ramaphosa “to strongly rebuke Deputy President Mabuza’s remarks and blatant refusal to condemn these actions, and to break this government’s silence by taking a strong public stance against the attack on the LGBTQI+ Africans in many countries on the continent.”
South Africa’s constitution outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation, and the country is the fifth in the world to legalise same-sex marriages, and the only one to do so in Africa.
Homosexuality, however, remains illegal in most other African countries.
NM/jn/APA