Events

Iranti-Org covers LGBTI events on the African continent. Let Jabu (jabu@iranti-org.co.za) know if you want to be alerted to upcoming events.

Upcoming Event

IDAHO: AFRICA MARKS ITS FIGHT AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA

17 May 2013. Iranti-Org will be coordinating the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) programme in Johannesburg.  This programme will focus on the inner city of Johannesburg.  This is because the city has increasingly become unsafe and the visible increase in the amount of fundamentalist homophobic churches have made the city increasingly unsafe for LGBTI persons. Join us on to march from 10:00-11:00, Flashmob 11:15-12:30, City Sight Seeing big red bus at 13:00 and Queer Arts Mini Festival from16:00-22:00. BE THERE!!!!!

Click here to to our dedicated IDAHO Day page....

Source: IDAHO festivities for Iranti-Org

FILM WORKSHOP: 13 April 2013

13 April 2013. Out in Africa, will be hosting a one day practical workshop at Iranti-Org in Johannesburg, presented by Mette Kjærgaard and Jenny Lund Madsen. One their films, Chloe Likes Olivia, will be screened at the workshop as part of the critical interrogation of LGBTI identities in film. Read more...

SOGI conference 2013 resolution

15-16 April 2013. Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Conference 2013: Based on the conclusions of the report entitled ‘Discriminatory Laws and Practices and Acts of Violence against Individuals based on their Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity’ by the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, the outcomes of the regional seminars recently held in Kathmandu, Paris and Brasilia, regional inputs from Africa, and the global dialogue in Oslo, which brought together more than 200 participants from 84 countries, we present the following summary of conclusions.
Read more...

Past Events

@25 (exhibition) - 6 April

What: @25: A memorial Event for Busi Sigasa and Buhle Msibi

Presented by: Inkanyiso
Date: 6 April 2013, 12H00 – 18H00 
Venue: Goethe-Institut, Auditorium, Johannesburg
Cost: Free Admission

Visual artist and activist Zanele Muholi’s non-profit organisation Inkanyiso presents @25, an event to commemorate the lives of Buhle Msibi (1981-2006) and Busi Sigasa (1982-2007), black lesbian cultural activists, who both passed away at the age of 25.

Inkanyiso invites you to come celebrate the life and work of these two passionate and fearless human rights defenders, who had already made such a mark when they passed... @25. A number of poets and writers will be featured at the event and will participate in conversations about art, activism, human rights, and well-being.

Call to action - 8 April

What: Planning meeting for 17 May (IDAHOT)

When: Monday, 8 April 13h00-15h00

Where: House of Movements, corner 123 Pritchard Street and Mooi Streets, Johannesburg

May 17 - International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) - Iranti-Org is developing an action plan. On this day across the world, LGBTI persons will be gathering to fight against homophobia and transphobia.  In South Africa, we will join this global action and we call on you to be part of our continued fight for justice.

Read more...

Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) Press Statement

GALZ is of the view that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s statements published in the Herald Thursday 7 March 2013, that same-sex people who want to marry have a 'problem', fuel public prejudice against LGBTI individuals and contradict the very preamble of a draft constitution that he is seemingly promoting. Read more in GALZ's press statement...

IRANTI-ORG INVITES CHIEF MADZIKANE II TO SPEAK

Topic: Traditional values and sexual orientation

Join us for a breakfast roundtable discussion with with King Madzikane II, the Inkosi of KwaBhaca Traditional Council from Mount Frere, Eastern Cape.

Over the past year, Traditional Leaders had a large input into South Africa’s democracy and human rights issues.  Some of the key inputs have directly impacted on the role of women in South Africa and the rights of LGBTI persons.  The equality clause has been directly threatened by Traditional Leaders, such as Chief Patekile Holomisa, as the President of CONTRALESA, and the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Constitutional Committee.

Date: Monday the 11 March 2013 at 10am. 
Venue: The discussion will be held at our offices, which are situated, in central Johannesburg at the House of Movements on 123 Pritchard Street, Room 404.

RSVP: Please confirm your attendance, you can email your confirmation to:

getinfo@iranti-org.co.za or call us on 011 3331015

The search for justice for Thapelo Makhutle continues

Thapelo Makhutle, Photo courtesy of Thapelo’s friend

Thapelo Makhutle’s older brother, Ronnie Makhutle (centre) at the Iranti-Org event

In the week of his birthday, the 21st February 2013, Thapelo Makhutle’s family will once again face Sizwe Jajini, the 22-year old man accused of Thapelo’s murder. Jajini appears in the Mothibistad Magistrate Court, about 9 km from Thapelo’s hometown, Kuruman. This will be Jajini’s fourth appearance in court as previous schedules have been faced by further delays and setting of new trial dates.  Thapelo’s family still does not know the facts pertaining to his tragic death on 9 June 2012. 

In the same week, Thapelo’s family and friends will commemorate and remember that he was born on the 23 February.  This year Thapelo, a gorgeous and happy young gay man would have celebrated his 25th birthday.  Instead, his friends and family hold onto the memory of Thapelo’s young and happy life by celebrating his birthday on Saturday, 23 February 2013.  In memory of Thapelo, a close friend with whom Thapelo shares his birthday, Tsepo Kgatlhane is hosting a ‘back-to-school shoe drive’ campaign for children around Kuruman.  Also, a group of young LGBTI residents in Kuruman, led by 28-year old transgendered woman and another close friend of Thapelo’s, Keletile Mabilo plan to finally launch a youth LGBTI group in memory of Thapelo Makhutle. 

On this day the Makhutle’s will visit Thapelo’s grave and spend some time honoring his life.  The tightly-knit Makhutle family has been instrumental in Iranti-Org’s follow-up on the Thapelo case and has been a source of strength for other families battling with the loss of their loved ones through hate crime-related murders. This was witnessed recently at Iranti-Org’s “Parents and LGBTI Youth” event held on 08 December 2012 at the Hector Pieterson Museum in Soweto. When Iranti-org invited Ma’ Makhutle and her two sons to this event, we were informed that at least 17 family members would be coming to the event in honor of Thapelo; an appreciated and commendable gesture of the family’s unending love for Thapelo.

Iranti-Org is closely following both the court case on 21 February and the birthday events on 23 February 2013. Iranti-Org’s media team Botshelo Mondi, Ayanda Msiza and Kelebogile Ntladi have travelled to Kuruman and will be covering the events in the next few days. Iranti-Org continues to seek justice for victims of hate crimes, such as Thapelo Makhutle by creating an archive of memory for clear, factual, verified and in-real-time evidence-based advocacy work. This week, we celebrate Thapelo’s life beyond the grave.

The community talks about acceptance, violence and loss

South African parents, community leaders and LGBTQI  youth talk about acceptance, violence and loss at Iranti-Org’s historical event.

by Sinoxolo Musangi

A moment of silence for victims of hate crimes. Photo by Nadine Hutton

8 December 2012: At an open day event organized by Iranti-Org , South African parents, community leaders and LGBTIQ youth had the opportunity to come together and  openly talk about sexual orientation, gender identity and the pain of losing family members  and friends in hate crime-related murders. This event, which was part of Iranti-Org’s “16 Days of Activism against Gender-based violence”, was held at the Hector Pieterson Museum in Soweto on 8th December 2012. The Hector Pieterson Museum was a strategic venue choice for Iranti-Org for three reasons: Firstly the Hector Pieterson  Museum is one of South Africa’s most important  sites of memory. Built in memory of a young Soweto teenager Hector Pieterson, the Museum embodies memories of the 1976 Soweto uprisings during which Pieterson and numerous other young Black South Africans were killed by apartheid police. Secondly, the Museum was, for Iranti-Org, an important site in which the lives and deaths of South African LGBTIQ youth could be written in the national historical narrative. Finally, the Museum’s location in Soweto was crucial because of the continued violence against LGBTIQ persons in the predominantly Black Township.

This event held under the banner, “16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence: Amplifying the Voices of LGBTIQ Youth and Parents on Loss, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity” brought together LGBTIQ youth, community leaders from around Soweto, activists and the families of recently murdered LGBTIQ persons in the country. In an emotional but courageous move, the families of Thapelo Makhutle and Andritha Morifi shared their struggles with dealing with the loss of Thapelo and Andritha in June and July 2012 respectively. Thapelo’s brutal murder in Soeding, Kuruman was the first big story that Iranti-Org had documented resulting in an EU resolution on hate crimes in South Africa. For the very first time since his murder, Thapelo’s mother, brothers and extended family found the courage to appear and speak in public. Thapelo’s older brother, Ronnie Makhutle, shared with the gathering Thapelo’s last days with his family, his sense of humour and love of life and the family’s struggles with trying to find an explanation for his murder.

Immediately after documenting the murder of Thapelo Makhutle and that of Sanna Supa in Soweto, Iranti-Org travelled to the small village of Mokopane in Limpopo to document the similarly brutal murder of a Lesbian young woman, Andritha Morifi.  In an equally emotional narration, Andritha’s sister Julia Morifi gave an account of Andritha’s life as an openly lesbian member of the family whose sexuality was never a bone of contention within the Morifi family. Julia appealed to the LGBTIQ population in South Africa to raise awareness on sexual orientation and gender identity within their families as a possible way of reducing risks associated with rejection.

The day took a different turn as Craig Matu’s mother, Mmapula Matu shared her story about Craig’s birth and transitioning. Craig Matu is a transgender activist from the Pretoria-based only organization serving South Africa’s Black transgender and intersex community, Transgender Intersex Africa (TIA). Mrs. Matu candidly shared with other parents and LGBTIQ youth her desire for a daughter prior to Craig’s birth, her battle with accepting her daughter as lesbian, the feelings of loss at the onset of Craig’s transitioning from female to male and finally her acceptance and love for her transgendered son. 

At the end of an emotional but very successful and uplifting day, Iranti-Org Director Jabu Pereira presented to the Makhutle and Morifi families photograph albums of our documentation of the lives and deaths of Thapelo and Andritha. This presentation of photographs was both an act of gratitude to the families for trusting us with their lives and stories as well as a symbolic act of a continued friendship and support. Iranti-Org’s arts program was, at this event, supported by music from South Africa’s award-winning multi-instrumentalist Pops Mohamed and Nigerian-born Olufemi as well as poetry from spoken word artist Maureen Majola and Iranti-Org’s  Sinoxolo Musangi. The final act of the day was the creation of a mural of remembrance on which the people in attendance were asked to write the names of family members and friends that had been killed as a result of their sexual orientation and gender identity. This memory cloth was an appropriate therapeutic act after an intense day of mixed feelings of hope and despair, triumph and defeat as well as pain and celebration. This memory cloth is now part of Iranti-org’s arts and activism program.

Iranti-Org and the Hector Pieterson Museum plan to host this event annually.

Go to our Past Events page to read more about Iranti-Org's activism in 2012

Some of the events we have previously organised. For all our past events, please go to our Past Events page.

The community talks about acceptance, violence and loss

South African parents, community leaders and LGBTQI  youth talk about acceptance, violence and loss at Iranti-Org’s historical event.

67 Minutes of Shame 2012
An ANC representative signed and received the memorandum outside Luthuli House.

Durban Pride 2012
Ms and Mr Durban Pride 2012