LGBTQI condemns brutal murder of young activist

Lindokuhle Cele was murdered in a suspected hate crime.

An array of local Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, and Intersex (LGBTQI) groups have called on South African communities to “respect homosexuals and embrace them” as part of society.


As reported by the Mercury, the urgent call comes following the brutal murder of young LGBTQI activist Lindokuhle Cele, who was stabbed repeatedly in uMlazi, in what is believed to be a hate crime.


The 23-year-old was allegedly attacked at a local butcher shop by Mbuyisi Moguda. He was stabbed in the back and face and the knife was found lodged in his eye. Moguda appeared in court on Tuesday February 25. 


While they are desperately trying to address all the various issues related to homophobia locally, KwaZulu-Natal LGBTQI Districts Centre leader Sbongiseni Khumalo says that the organisation still had a long way to go. He added that, since some government departments had started to introduce LGBTQI programmes, it showed that they were moving in the right direction. 


“We are working on addressing the issues facing homosexuals, but we need more support from the government. “There are some areas where you find that companies don’t want to employ a gay or lesbian person, and we need to address that,” Khumalo explains. 


KZN Social Development MEC Nonhlanhla Khoza agrees, and says they were fighting to have programs targeted at educating communities about homosexuality. 


“LGBTQIs have a right to live in communities and need to be respected and supported. In churches, let us speak about this and not shy away from it because the more we speak about it, the more people will learn to accept and respect them equally,” she concludes.