© Zanele Muholi
2013

Where: Thokoza township, Johannesburg
What: Three (3) days after Duduzile Zozo’s burial
When: 16/07/2013
How many: 24 participants excluding taxi drivers.
Who: Mostly black lesbians and gays…
Camera used:  Canon 6D with zoom lens EF-S 85 mm lens  1:1.8

Previous by/ featuring Muholi

2013 March 24: Recognition of LGBTI Activist should be a culture

and

2013 April 8: I have truly lost a woman I loved


and


2013 July 7: Muholi transition with virgins

and

2013 June 21: The Princess of Norway pitched just for Muholi

and

2013 June 27: Butch & … Menstruation is Art

and

2013 June 15: The Durban Lesbian Wedding of the Year

and

2013 March 17: Paris Is Burning with Candles…

Photo by Sibonelo Muholi (19.07.2013)

… the beat goes on and we are growing together bafowethu.

Faces & Phases mounted on the wall

by Lesego Tlhwale

Elegance, good wine, conversation and Deutsch/Flemish opening speech by known Belgian professor, I remembered that this is not a dream but I’m in another country.

Yesterday Faces & Phases exhibition opened at the Gallery Verbeeck Van Dyck in Antwerp, Belgium which will coincide with the 2013 World Outgames. The series was one of many shows that Zanele Muholi’s series held at different venues in various places.

I had the pleasure of attending a couple of Muholi’s exhibitions before in South Africa and in 2012 I was at the Goethe Institute, Johannesburg opening of the Faces and Phases 3rd series where my portrait was one of the 60+ faces exhibited.

Lesego Thwale, Constitution Hill, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2012

The series is a collection of black & white lesbian and transgender portraits taken by Muholi since 2006 till present. It is a lifetime project of Muholi and one of her best work ever, she attested and said, “faces and phases is the greatest project I have ever done, and I am proud of it.”

The exhibition has been shown all over the world at different galleries. Reccently the series was featured at the Venice Biennale, Italy and at Kunstplass 5 in Oslo, Norway  - I See Rainbow exhibition was part of the Oslo Pride festival.

Last night’s event was my first international exhibition opening I attended as a viewer and as a participant featuring in the series.

Seeing my portrait up there on a white wall being looked at by +-100 white people in a foreign country was something I never thought would happen. Although I knew that Muholi’s work is shown all over the world, I never thought I would be there in that kind of space were people look at your photograph and minutes later look at you with sympathy.

One guest came to me and told me how brave I was to take a photograph, which tell tales of my sexuality and its shown at a public space while I live in a country where hate crime is rife.

Annecke having a chat with Lesego
Photo by Pierre Moeremans, Antwerp (26.07.2013)

Even though her concerns were geniune judging from the situation in South Africa; the corrective rape pandemic and senseless killing of innocent black lesbians in townships. I felt that as black lesbians we have limited identity in the eyes of some outsiders abroad especially those who have never visited South Africa, we are only viewed as hate crime victims and nothing else.

While at the exhibition Muholi shared with me that one of the guest who sat with her to discuss the images pointed one of the potraits and said that, “the person in that portrait look like she won’t live for long.”

Muholi engaging with gallery guests.
Photo by Pierre Moeremans (26.07.2013)

Drawing from that statement, I realised that people abroad sympathise with our situation back at home; however, I feel they over analysing the whole situation.  Let alone that today marks 27 days since Duduzile Zozo was killed in Thokoza, Johannesburg.

I have known Muholi since 2009 and her images to me didn’t make much sense to me at first, all I saw was faces of black lesbians which I admired and I also wanted my photo to be taken and my portrait to be part of a collection and a representation of South African lesbians.

I didn’t know what I know now about Muholi’s work and the message behind it. Working with and Inkanyiso over the past few months made me understand the importance behind the portraits.

Muholi explains her work by saying; “faces express the person, and phases signify the transition from one stage of sexuality or gender expression and experience to another.”

“Faces is also about the face to face confrontation between myself as the photograher/activist and the many lesbians, women and transmen I have interacted with from different places, explains Muholi.
The confrontation that Muholi is talking about has moved the ‘overseas’ viewer from being about her and the lesbians she photographs. It is also about the portrait and the audience viewing it. What I witnessed here was something incredible and creepy at the same time, I saw queer and non-queer individuals being moved by confrontational potraits of black lesbians and transgender people from Africa.

Me, being at the opening made realize the power of the visuals, the power of how a face with little emotion could speak volumes or tell so much about a person‘s situation regardless of whether you know the person or not.

A month ago I celebrated my 27th birthday, and as a self identifying black lesbian, living in one of South Africa’s townships I feel fortunate to have travelled as far as Antwerp, Belgium to attend an exhibition where my portrait features.

Most of my peers in South Africa are being killed in their 20′s, some of those who have died featured in Muholi’s photography and unfortuately they won’t have the same opportunity I have now to see the power of their imagery.

The series will continue to move Belgians and 2013 World Outgames visitors until the 25 August 2013. A month is not enough for this powerful exhibition however, by the time the portraits are taken down they would have touched a dozen of lives. Inkanyiso will be documenting the WOGA and Human Rights conference as from the 31st July – 11 Aug. 2013.

We are truly grateful to the Verbeeck family  for the special invitation that granted us the opportunity to shine in Antwerp!

L-R: The curator Bruno Devos, Zanele Muholi and the gallery owners
Paul & Anne Verbeeck.
Photo by Allain Six (26.07.2013)

Previous by Lesego

2013 July 17: Inkanyiso nominated for the 2013 Visible Award

and


2013 July 3: Another brutal murder of a lesbian


and

2013 June 20 Inkanyiso Sees The Rainbows with Norwegians



and


2013 June 5: Lesego sharing the work of Inkanyiso at the LGBT conference in Salzburg, AUSTRIA


and



2013 May 18: After Mask … Hear Us Out


by Jeremiah Sepotokele*

Hate crimes have destroyed many lives and communities in South Africa today.
As we reflect on lives that have been affected, the tragic story of the late Duduzile Zozo continues to haunt me. It is no secret that our queer youth have fallen victims of disturbing hate crimes, particularly black lesbians in the townships.

As I locate myself within this reality with considerable trepidation, I am confronted to explore some of the ways in which we (as queer youth) can equip ourselves at the height of these crimes. I have had discussions with a couple of my colleagues and the role of education seems to be brought up in many of our engagements.
So with this article I am hoping to connect (at least) how education can be instrumental to queer youth in particular as common victims of violence in this country.

After the Transformative policies for marginalized groups seminar conceptualized by Jeremiah in collaboration with Black Lawyers Association team at Wits University on the 24th July 2013.
L-R: Dominic Khumalo (BLA founder), Jeremiah Sepotokele (LLB student at Wits), Noma Phakade (GALA)
and Chief Justice Edwin Cameron (Constitutional Court), Johannesburg.

Education as ammunition can always be overemphasized as a form of empowerment of our youth and asserting themselves in society.
However, it is against the socio-economic reality in which the level of engagement this discussion takes. It is therefore important to admit that the queer youth of this country are placed in different social structures which are inherently unequal as much as they face similar struggles as a collective. This then affords us to look at education and the extent of its effect as far as empowerment is concerned, in a way that makes a reflection on the increasingly failing education system and ridiculous corruption rates. So it gets a lot stickier than one could ever imagine, but as queer youth what then remains the solution?

Chief Justice Edwin Cameron who presented his life story and activism to a group of about 120 individuals, mostly law students.

I may not have all the answers but I do not think the answer lays necessarily in the administrative formal education system. Moreover, I also do not think in light of the prevailing hate crimes against our bodies would the unilateral effort of empowering ourselves through education be significant in combating these evils.
Hate crimes are a reality and a general social problem which affects not only specific individuals in our communities but it is of public interest.
Therefore this calls for legislative, executive, judicial and private/personal action in order to confront and effectively deal with hate crimes.
So it is a collective societal responsibility and education (through formal or activist avenues) can only be effective in addressing misinterpretations of the queer identity by mainstream institutions.

About the author

*Jeremiah Sepotokele is a 3^rd year LLB student at the School of Law, Wits University.
He is an Editorial Associate at the Wits Student Law Journal for Southern Africa and a Teaching Fellow at the South African Constitutional Literacy and Service Initiative. 

I lay here, in pain tossing and turning
waiting for the birth of my daughter.
I try to lift my head but it won’t get off the pillow,
as my body starts to give way my abdominals go numb.
It’s almost time,
As I raise my legs to push, fear drowns me
Fear of bringing this precious life to this world
Fear that the life that I have nurtured and carried for nine months,
connected to her with the umbilical cord and have some one take it away.
The pain that I’ve been in to the time when the doctor says it is a baby girl.
To me this is not just a girl,
but a precious gem that allowed me to bring it to this world,
to take care of.
To the joys of choosing the name that would suit her best,
that meant something a name my baby will carry with pride.

On 30th June 2013 Duduzile Zozo meaning:
(to comfort) was found brutally murdered in her neighborhood
with a toilet brush inserted in her genitals,
among the other brutal killings that have been reported of black lesbians.
They call it hate crimes
They call it ‘curative rape’
I’m in labor and in mourning

Do I bring another girl child to this world?
When they are being killed like animals.
Who thinks of the mothers,
the mothers that carried those lives and gave them life?
Does your mother cross your mind
when you brutally end someone’s life?
Does your sister?
Does your aunt?
Does your granny cross your mind
when you shoved a toilet brush into my child’s vagina?

You have decided to end her life.
Who will get me through the days?
Who will help me with my light bulbs?
Who will help me get through the day
You have taken away my child
My life
My pride
As I’m about to bring this life into this world for you to condemn I am in labor and in mourning.

Dedicated to all the mothers who have lost their children, through brutal murders.
Does anyone take time to think of those women who carried those children, especially lesbian identifying hate crime victims.

© Charmain Carrol
2013

Previous by Charmain

2013 June 28: So What Is This?

and

2013 June 26: S/he is a Bleeding Man


and

2013 Feb. 8: “Let your voices be heard”


and

2013 Feb. 12: Mo(u)rning in the morning


and

2013 March 8: Affirmation – I Am A Lesbian


and


2013 Feb. 8: Mo(u)rning the loss …

Nokwanda leading 2012 Eastern Cape Pride

Photo album by Zanele Muholi.
11th Aug. 2012. Eastern Cape, South Africa.

They say pictures speak louder than words.
For those who were there at the 2012 Eastern Cape Pride, see yourselves and likenesses in the pics and kindly caption wherever possible.
Thanks to Zamanguni Mzimela & partner for the invitation and hospitality.

FreeGenders, mina ngiyazifela ngani.

This is one of those unforgettable moments.
On the 3rd of Aug. 2013 Inkanyiso will be documenting the most celebrated Amsterdam Pride.

Bontle and Surprise of EPOC organisation

Exactly a year ago now, I joined the Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW), activists and allies to celebrate the 10th anniversary.
FEW is the black lesbian organisation that Donna Smith and I conceptualized in 2002 at a garage we called a home at # 7 Panther Street, Kensington, Johannesburg.
The event was held at the Women’s Gaol, Braamfontein, Johannesburg on the 4th Aug. 2012.

No one knew that a black lesbian organisation will live that long. It is with great pleasure to share the photos of those who were present.
It is a pity that those who were there at the forefront of the FEW were not present due to commitments or were not informed.
As we head towards 20 Years of Democracy, I’d like to share we many of how we started FEW and why.
Allow me to take this opportunity and express my gratitude to all those who were involved and also the current staff members who are pushing it today.

On the 27th January 2013,  FEW celebrated her 11th birthday.
May FEW live longer and see 20 more years to come.

Siyabonga!

the cake that bind us…

L-R: former FEW director Zoleka and staff member Dikeledi Sibanda

dedicated FEW staff member Phindi Malaza

Fikile kaNtanzi

Centred is Cindy Molefe all the way from Limpopo also the founding member of Limpopo Proudly Out LGBT organisation

L-R: former FEW directors and board member at the centre.
Zoleka, Sibusiso, JP, Donna and Dawn

the intellectual, Jade Madingwane

the archivist/activist, Jabu of Iranti-org

Zanele Muholi presenting FEW story video archived since 2005.
In the pic is Sizakele Sigasa, hate crime victim who was brutally murdered in 2007.

Maureen Velile Majola, who was on an on about Rea vaya and PUTCO s needed dialogue

our poet and writer, Nhlanhla Nkosi

Zama Sibiya a staunch member of Chosen FEW soccer team and CDP creative staff

Far right, Nqobile Zungu

L-R: Zoleka, Dawn and Virginia

FEW Board member, Ntlotleng Mabena

Article, transcript to follow…
If you know any person in these photos or remember what was said, kindly share with us.

Photos by Zanele Muholi (4th Aug. 2012)

 by Pearl Mbali Zulu

We often worry too much about being accepted by our families, friends, churches and communities, forgetting that it all starts within. Our external environment and physical senses mostly affect our spiritual senses, which automatically lead one not to have a beautiful soul. In most cases, the external and physical senses give negative results to one’s soul.

I remember having a conversation with one of my colleagues who is more of a mother to me. She is always there for me when I need someone to turn to. She always tells me how much she values, adores and loves me for who I am. She also sees me as one of her children.

A question came into my mind and I decided to verbalise my thoughts and asked her in that  moment how she was going to feel if one of her daughters told her that she was in love with another woman. Nothing prepared me for reaction.
She screamed and said “No ways!!!
My daughter is not lesbian or bisexual.
She won’t even try to do that, not in a lifetime”
Body language speaks louder than any amount of words.
The tone of her voice and facial expression said it all. It said a lot that I wasn’t aware of.

Mbali’s profile pic on Facebook (2013.08.19)

I asked myself if she really loved me as her own or she was pretending all along.  She knows who I am and what I am.  To me she suddenly gave meaning the word “discrepancy”.
I didn’t expect that from her, but it became clear to me that it was about time I faced reality.
It was transparent to me that not everyone is going to accept you for who you are. I realised that yes she loved me, but only from the distance. It’s like she loved me, but she knew that she was also not attached to me forever, or by blood.
I wondered what the circumstances would have been if I was her biological daughter.
Would she have shunned me and banished me from her family or would her mother’s instinct have kicked in, and embraced me with my whole being?
My inner self is content not knowing the answer.

It all starts from within. You need to accept yourself first and the rest will follow.  It’s important to remember that not everyone will accept you for who you are.
We need to love and celebrate who we are and then others can love us back. We shouldn’t allow people to bring us down. If it starts from within, no one will break us down.
They might swear at us as much as they want to, beat us up, rape and murder us, but they won’t get to our souls. Our inner beauty will remain and it will be expressed in every special way.

My point is that not everyone whom you think loves you does. Most of our LGBTI sisters and brothers are abused (physically, verbally, spiritually etc.) by family members, friends, strangers, etc.
Yes we may love, but we shouldn’t trust too much.
Be confident in who you are, because you have a purpose to serve. If you love yourself enough, other people’s negative comments will not affect you in any way.

The inner part of you may be invisible, but it plays a huge role.
Let us continue to be the Lively, Guilt-free, Blissful, Top and Immense community.
That’s my LGBTI for you!!!

Mbali Zulu, KwaThema, Springs, Johannesburg, 2010
featuring in Muholi’s Faces & Phases portraiture series

About the author

Pearl Mbali Zulu, a black lesbian artist and activist, was born in KwaThema on December 18, 1988.
She started expressing herself through portraiture of individuals.  She was good at what she did but her work lacked a deeper meaning, it did not quite speak to anything yet.

That is not to say she was devoid of passion, quite the contrary.
In 2009 Mbali realized that she could use her art to quell some of the misunderstanding and ignorance around issues concerning the LGBTI community and all forms of violence towards women and children.  She got the urge to create artworks that would educate and create awareness in the community.

She understood that her target population were not too fond of reading but liked visuals instead.  Visuals are a conversation piece and they always stimulate conversation, whether good or polarizing.

Her first step was to attend art classes offered by local artist, Pat Sithole, at the KwaThema Library. On conclusion Sithole advised Mbali to further her studies.  She had witnessed the potential, passion and determination that she had and knew that she could earn a visual arts designation.

She already had a National Diploma in Business Management so she enrolled at the University of Johannesburg for a National Diploma in Fine Arts.
Before she did her 3^rd year of study, she lost her grandfather and Aunt who were both breadwinners of the family. That meant that her sponsor, her sister, who was responsible for her tuition and materials, became the breadwinner and could no longer afford them.
Mbali explained her situation and was able to transfered from the University of Johannesburg to the University of South Africa where she will be able to complete her studies.
David Paton, a senior lecturer and Head of Department (HoD) in the department of Visual Arts describes her as a diligent and participative individual.

She managed to get a job, which means she can now pay for her fees.
She is also a freelancer.  She is currently doing a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts at the University of South Africa (UNISA).

A lot of people, situations and places inspire her work.  Fallen LGBTI members inspired her to create more vivid and meaningful work.
Zanele Muholi, a South African photographer and visual activist from Umlazi is a huge influence to her. Mbali is featuring in Muholi’s Faces & Phases (2010).
There are  also quite numbers of artists who inspire her as well.

Mbali aims at creating awareness and educating the viewers through the use of her art. She believes people’s negative perceptions; prejudice and mind sets may change after viewing her thought provoking work. Her art work expresses what victim feels as well as their immediate family, friend s and community.

Mbali who played soccer for 14 years when she was younger was also crowned
Mr Lesbian, Ekurhuleni in 2012.

L stands for Looking good… and respectful and proud
Photo from Mbali’s Facebook – personal gallery

by Fikile Mazambani

Zanele Muholi’s name has become synonymous with her visual activism which she calls “Visual/ Art activism – an artistic approach to hate crimes” such that one can almost overlook that she is a master at how she arrives at that visual.
On 28th of October 2013, Zanele became the first South African to be appointed as an independent video and photography Honorary Professor at the University of the Arts/Hochschule für Künste Bremen in Germany.

The artist was officially welcomed to her position by Bremen’s Minister of Education and Science, Prof. Dr. Eva Quante-Brandt who presented her with her appointment letter.
The occasion was even more special because the university was also marking their 25th anniversary.
This was an inspirational time for fellow South African photographer and filmmaker, Themba Vilakazi, who was wearing many hats on that day.

As an African photographer himself, Vilakazi felt encouraged and in awe of Muholi’s accolade.  “I have never heard of anyone in South Africa who has been bestowed the honour of a professorship. I have heard of honorary degrees but this is just on another level.
Now the next stop is the Order of Ikhamanga!
They have to consider the body of work”, he says passionately, challenging the South African government to honour one of their own as they mark 20 Years of Democracy in 2014.

Professor of Media Aesthetics, Prof. Dr Claudia Reiche believes Muholi has earned her stripes and deserves the title. “I think that Muholi is a wonderful artist, rightfully renowned in the art world as well as in the LGBT activists’ contexts.”
Muholi will be resuming her lectures on December 3, 2013 and will be “free to teach the students of digital media and others from the faculty of Art and Design during some block seminars, in a way she prefers” Dr Reiche confirmed. “I hope Zanele Muholi’s personal and artistic courage will inspire students with the courage to pursue their basic questions in
Life and Art.”

Prof. Zanele Muholi after the reception. © Themba Vilakazi (28/10/2013)

The Prince Clause Award laurette’s persistence has paid off.  After graduating from Market Photography Workshop in Johannesburg, she dove right into her work and started making a statement with her camera.
Faces and Phases is one of her most visible projects to date.
She knew that there were no positive images portraying lesbians and that if she, as a member of that community, did not break some doors down, no one else would.
Where there was once a void, there is now an over flowing archive.

Vilakazi says “Photography used to be a rich man’s indulgence but it has shifted, but then again it has not changed for everyone because many black families do not have family pictures.  I do not have pictures of my great grandfather and grandfather.
Faces and Phases changed that.  It is an archive that will say these faces existed at this particular phase.  It allowed those often relegated to the shadows to come to the forefront.”

Muholi’s works are a strong show of her advocating for human rights of the LGBTI community.  She says of her work “no matter how you feel about the LGBTI community, one cannot deny our existence.  We need to say we are here and work hard and be consistent” she says. She created an archive of ‘family’ portraits that future generations can pull from.

“Whether you accept the LGBT persons or not, you must acknowledge that these are people who actually exist.  If they were your family, you would not portray them in a compromising way.
This is why I had to take a stand and do something.”

On how she felt about this honour, she got quiet in her answer as she spoke of it being a bittersweet moment for her.
She wished her late mother would have been there to celebrate the fruits of her labour – literally.  “This energy that creates comes from her womb really. I miss my mom.”

She quickly changes gear as she becomes commanding again, emphasising that this is an attainable goal for anyone who reaches for it.
“I want any young person to know that this is possible.  We just have to work harder be consistent, focused and relevant in what we do.
We also need collaborations.  I am made by the people and I serve the people.
I am always humbled by their kindness and the way they have embraced my ideas.” 

Muholi has come full circle, starting off at the Market Workshop in Johannesburg driven by a frustration of not being able to see herself portrayed in any positive media, to perfecting her skill when she got her Master Fine Arts: Documentary Media degree
at Ryerson University, right down to now becoming the disseminator of knowledge.
She feels humbled and says this is bigger than her.
“We are doing this for the collective, for our grandchildren tomorrow.”

In 2013 alone, Muholi has surpassed even her own standards, winning the Fine Prize for an emerging artist at the 2013 Carnegie International, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
She is being honoured with the prestigious Prince Claus Award, to be presented in Amsterdam in December 2013.
She won the Index on Censorship – Freedom of Expression art award in London in March, and the Mbokodo Award for Creative Photography in August.

On the 2^nd of November 2013, Muholi presented her new work at Sharp Sharp exhibition, La Gaite Lyrique in Paris.

Related links

South African artist wins in the US

and

LGBTQ visual activist discusses ‘curative rape’ in South Africa

and

La sud-africaine Zanele Muholi, une photographe révoltée

Words aren’t easy to come out
Words have a deeper meaning than we think
Never back down when you tell it
I found myself with a trick of telling the words

Words have a deeper meaning than we think
I laugh because words aren’t so easy
I found myself witha trick of telling the words
So I told the truth no one wanted

I laugh because words aren’t so easy
I started to talk on how I see things
So I told the truth no one wanted
I’ve found tricks in telling the words
Never back down when you tell it
Words aren’t so easy to come out

by Theo Masalaza

© 2013

About the author

My name is Theopatra Masalaza was born and raised in Khayelitsha, Cape Town in a family of six siblings. As a young child I was taught to be an independent person in life by my mom. It grew up with me daily, and today I can say that I was my own parent. Today I am a grown woman that is a known Fine Artist and a Ceramicist in my community. I found myself loving journalism, so through all the skills and talents that I have, I became an activist – solving problems and telling stories of our daily lives. I don’t tell just any stories, but stories that make people twice, and stories that will have an impact.

… the first special publication by Freegender

Words features in Rivers of Life book which is a compilation of black lesbian stories and poems. Recently launched by Freegender on the 30^th November 2013 in Cape Town.

Theopatra is one of the authors with Andiswa Any Gungxe, Aphiwe Mikana, Funeka Soldaat, Gcobisa Nogova, Pamella Mhlawuli, Sinoxolo Nqwenani, Siya Mcuta, Thozama Matabata, Velisa Jara, Vuyo Ndamase and Zandile Tose.

According to the statement provided by Freegender on introduction page, “The book shows untold stories of our lives in the face of overwhelming media representations of us as victims of hate crimes. Though this book reflects the reality of violence in our lives, we show that it does not define who we are.

Here we express the infinite richness and complexity of our lives because we are telling our own stories in our own words.”

To buy your copy or donate for future publications write to:
freegender2009@gmail.com

A poem for Brenda Mvula written by her partner Koketso Matlaweng
read at the memorial service on the 9th Jan.2014.

If I only had five minutes the day you passed away,
I would have had time to tell you

all the things I needed to say.
I never got to tell you how much you mean  to me,

Or that you were the best Lala, I’ve ever had.

The last time that I talked to you
I wish I would have known.
I would have said I love you to many times.

If I only had five minutes,
the morning you passed away,
I would have given you one last hug so tight and see your great big smile.
I’d tell you that I don’t think I could live without you,
not even for awhile.
I’d kiss your cheek and take your hand and tell you it’s okay to go
And tell you that I’ll miss you,
more than you’ll ever know.

But you were gone so quickly.
Before you and i even knew it,
you were standing at heavens gate.
Now God has called upon you,
It’s time to get your wings.
To leave this life behind you,
And enjoy all of heavens beautiful things.
So wait for me in heaven Lala,
Don’t let me come alone.
The day the angels come for me,
Please be there to bring me home.

Lala ngoxolo Rhadebe Bhungane Mthimkhulu.
I will always love you and miss you my Lala!!!

Related links

2014 Jan.9: Brenda Mvula’s Memorial Service

and

2014 Jan. 10: Opulence at the memorial service of Brenda “the hustler”

by Betesta Segale

My name is Betesta Segale. I am a 31 years old trans man.
I am a LGTBI activist, a writer and a communicator.
I have always found it easy to interact and be open with people. In my spare time, I play football.
I am interested in tourism so I watch a lot of documentaries. I also enjoy watching movies.
I was born into a family of six: three brothers and two sisters. My eldest brother passed on in 2000 and my mother passed on in 2004.
I currently live with my sister in Lobatse, a town in which I was born.  It is in the Southern District of Botswana.

In 2013, I earned a Diploma in the Accounting Programme, through the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) Professionals. I still have an outstanding level but because of financial restraints, I have not been able to finish it.
In 2011, while living in South Africa, I studied online Community Journalism for Beginners, which was offered by the Department of Communication Science at the University of South Africa (UNISA).
I had to relocate back to Botswana and that caused me to miss writing the examination and have no certificate for it yet.

I am currently unemployed but I used to sell t-shirts, caps and watches but because of financial difficulty I had to stop.  I do plan on selling again because my customers are clamouring for them.

I do not plan to be in this situation for ever. I want to be an independent person, a leader, and especially a writer. I have a burning desire to write articles and stories about LGBTI people in Botswana and Africa. I want my writing to advocate, sensitize and shine some light on the struggles and successes of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgendered and Intersex (LGBTI) peoples in Africa.

My gender identity is male and my sexual orientation is heterosexual. I use the word ‘rra’ which means ‘he’ to identify myself. To me, it means I am just like any other man who is attracted to women. I have been in a relationship with a female partner for a year and three months now. We currently do not live together. She stays with her family. I consider it a long distance relationship but we see each other almost every weekend.

My family knows of our relationship and my partner’s select family members are aware that I am a cisgender male. They are happy for her as long as she is happy. I think that no one can live without love. I learnt that even the smallest things come out of love and that there would not be anything in the world without it e.g. buildings, clothes, food, etc.  At the base of all good things is love.

In keeping with that thought, I feel that everyone should be free to love who they want to. I have no problems with any of it. I have friends who are in same sex relationships and I treat them same as any other human being. I respect and do not judge them for their preference, to be same sex and same gender loving people. I believe there is no one who can change what one loves.

There are many challenges that I as a person face every day. I get stared at all the time and I am always asked to identify myself everywhere I go.  There are things which challenge me that others may not necessarily be aware of, like using public toilets, getting into the club and getting a job.  All this is because of how I choose to identity.  My papers show that I am a female but my physical appearance shows that I am a man.

In my hometown of Lobatse, I find that my community is fine with my gender identity.
They have seen my self-acceptance, self-respect and self-confidence of my gender identity. My hometown folk offer me more respect than outsiders who come in and are always asking about my gender identity. I do not feel that I am in immediate danger but I feel protected by other cisgender men that I hang around with.

South Africa feels different and you see rampant hate crimes, homo and transphobia because, in my opinion, the population is vast and there are so many different cultural beliefs and views. Though homosexuality is legalised, there are higher rates of rapes of lesbians in South Africa than in Botswana where it is illegal.

If I ever get the opportunity to be a leader, politician, radio host or TV presenter I would create a platform where I will engage with government officials and private sector so that they understand the issues affecting the LGBTI community.
The main issues would be; equality on dress codes, health rights equality for transgendered persons and public toilet setups.

The current dress code is a stumbling block to some sexual minorities and gender minorities in Botswana.
Most transgendered people in Botswana are denied the right to health due to their gender identity. I would also want public toilets to have the third unspecified toilet for gender non-conforming people.

That advocacy work will be backed by the many workshops and training sessions that I have attended and have informed my view.  I am saddened by the fact that I have learned so much but I have not been able to parlay it into employment and still rely on someone else to support me. My sister is my shoulder to cry on when I am feeling particularly despondent.

Some of the workshops I have attended are:

• Prevention and Research Initiative for Sexual Minorities (PRISM) Project in Botswana in 2009 in which I had to collect on information about Men having Sex with other Men (MSM), Treatment Literacy Training Program in April 2010 and Legal Aid Training in Botswana in May 2010 all these trainings were organised by The Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA).
• Domestic Violence in 2010 organised by Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals of Botswana (LEGABIBO).
• Internationally First African Dialogue on Christian Faith and Sexuality in 2009 in Stellenbosch Cape town organised by Out- Right Namibia. Trans and Intersex Activist Capacity Building Exchange Program in 2010- 2011 organised by Gender DynamiX and Support Initiative for people with a typical Sex Development (SIPD).
• Fellowship on Human Rights Advocacy at Behind the Mask, a Pan- African Media organisation on Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgendered and Intersex (LGBTI) issues. I was recruited September 2010 – September 2011, signed the Terms of Reference (TOR) with the organisation on the 28^th October 2010 for 12 months tenure. I worked on organisational development and Trans movement building duties and a writer. I produced 25 articles for Behind the Mask website for the year 2010- 2011 in the Programme.
  The articles can be accessible on request from the previous webmasters of the late site http:// www.mask.org.za.
  I did personal story from the Exchange Programme titled “You gave birth to a son’’ from the DVD titled ‘’Exquisite Gender’’ which contains personal stories from Trans and intersex people of Africa.
• Awarded Barry Award for completing a digital story training workshop with the filmmaker Shelly Barry and for presenting a personal story on 17 September – 10 October 2010 in Cape Town.
• I appeared on a live Talk Show SHIFT on SABC 1 in 2011 I Johannesburg to advocate and sensitise on the experiences and challenges that are faced by as a transmen in Africa.
• I worked with Rainbow Identity Association (RIA) as a member in Botswana.

I am hopeful that one day I will be able to put all that I have learned into practice.
I am proud to have had the opportunity to learn all this. I dream to write more stories that concern LGBTI issues in Botswana and Africa.

It was worthwhile for me to participate in Faces and Phases in 2010. I met Zanele Muholi through a friend when the photo shoot was organised in Gaborone and Johannesburg.
I hope that the viewers of the photographs will get to know me a little better and that this article will help some closet trans people to come out to the light!

Betesta Segale, Gaborone, Botswana, 2010.
Both photos are featuring in Faces and Phases by Zanele Muholi

Related articles

2014 Jan.9: “Enforcing my existence!”

and

2013 Aug. 19: The importance of self acceptance

and

2013 Aug. 22: Am exactly where I’m supposed to be
and

2013 Oct. 2: ‘I am a normal transgender woman’

and

2013 Oct. 12: I just feel she deserves much better

and

2013 Aug. 13: Love Transcends and Love Prevails
and

2013 July 15:  The virus has become a silent relative

and

2013 April 21: Living a legacy is always better than leaving a legacy

and

 2013 April 16: Not just a handsome butch lesbian

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2013 Sept. 22: Stop this is hurting me…

and

2013 March 10:  ”I love women and they love me”

and

2013 February 28: I am not a Victim but a Victor…

by Nomfundo Mgabadeli

The Wits Arts Museum and the Stevenson Gallery in Johannesburg played host to one of the most talented, hard-working, passionate visual artist activist of today, Zanele Muholi.
Muholi unveiled her latest offering, titled “Of Love and Loss” on the 14th February along with her 2013 Prince Clause Award ceremony.

ZaVa I. Paris, 2013

The evening commenced at the Wits Arts Museum, with a selection of works by Zanele Muholi being exhibited in her honour. She was the evening’s recipient of the 2013 Prince Claus Award, which is given to eleven highly acclaimed individuals from different countries who show a resilient aptitude towards culture and development in their relevant fields, and not only excelling but shedding light on issues they hold most dear.
In the case of Muholi, she shone the spotlight on the persecution of the black Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community, especially in township areas where attacks are as common as commuting a taxi. Her works ring more true in the current state of LGBT rights crisis across Africa.

Changing vows.
Ayanda & Nhlanhla Moremi’s wedding. Kwanele Park, Katlehong, 9 November 2013

After the award ceremony patrons gathered and made their way to the Stevenson Gallery, where the official launch “Of Love and Loss” took place. As you entered, the walls were adorned with intimate endearing stills of Muholi and her partner, which immediately set the “love” tone of the exhibition. But as you walked out of that sort of whimsical space, you were taken aback by a glass coffin placed on the floor juxtaposed with a black lesbian wedding playing in the background.
The installation drew even more attention when Muholi herself, stripped down and laid nude in the coffin, surrounded by red rose petals.

Muholi in a custom made coffin.
Photo by Bongi ‘Thekwane’ Mphisholo (2014/02/14)

The third space was again adorned with stills of black same sex marriages which illustrated that same sex weddings can be just as magical and special than a heterosexual wedding. You were then quickly brought back to the pain endured by black LGBTs and it leaves quite a morose feeling within.

Muholi’s body of work reveals a tug of war between “Of Love and Loss” and it depends on an individual’s perspective on what they take from the exhibition. Like her previous works, the pieces bring great awareness to the plight of black LGBT people. She has solidified herself as a catalyst for change in the LGBT community. The exhibition runs up until the 4th April 2014.

Ayanda Moremi on her wedding day. Kwanele South, Katlehong, 9 November 2013

Duduzile Zozo’s Funeral. Thokoza, July 2013

About the author

Nomfundo Mgabadeli  is a recent Bachelor’s Degree graduate in Journalism and a prospective student for the Master’s program.
Nomfundo has an aptitude and a great love for writing.
She is a self-confessed liberal feminist and a firm believer in equality across the board. She has no interest in furthering stereotypical, prejudicial, harmful agendas on and off the record.

In her research she has particular interest in youth, as she believes young minds have the potential to be the change that our country so desperately needs.
She currently works at Art for Humanity, a non-profit organisation that uses art to advocate human rights and various social issues that plague South Africa.
The organisation also holds art school workshops in different schools across KwaZulu-Natal for which she is a facilitator.

Related links

2014 Feb. 14:  Black South African visual activist lesbian, Zanele Muholi, in a transparent coffin Of Love and Loss”

and

Zanele Muholi: The task of mourning

and

Desire for change unites post-apartheid activism

and

2014 Feb.14: Prince Claus Award ceremony + Of Love and Loss exhibition opening

L-R: Jelena Kuljic and Maureen Velile Majola at backstage before their performance at Studio 44, Constanza Macras in Berlin last night. 

Jelena Kuljic about to sing “Senzeni na?” 

Maureen Majola lit the candles and prayed hard… God please end hate crimes in South Africa

L-R:  Tamar Saphir, Zanele Muholi responding to questions, Eckhard Weber (moderated the session after the performance and ‘We Live In Fear’ screening) and Maureen Velile Majola on the far right.

Lerato Shadi, Tamar Saphir and Sabelo Mlangeni

Zanele Muholi franked by Arnold and Ulrike Sommer of Kultuur.21

Emma & Mamello chatting after the performance at Studio 44

Our friends in Berlin.
L-R:  Signe, Muholi, Eva, Lerato, Maureen, Tuleka and Michelle

Photos
© Zanele Muholi and Erik Dettwiler
(2014/04/05)
BERLIN

Part of the text below was first posted on Dorkypark website

The performance SIFELA I AYIKHO - which is a Zulu expression translated loosely to WE ARE BEING KILLED FOR NOTHING - is exploring parts of South African social landscapes in which the lives of black lesbian and trans women in South Africa, including our own, is always exposed to danger.

The project is an effort to reclaim citizenship and is also a call for an end to queercide, a term coined by Zanele Muholi for the systematic atrocities and hate crimes against lesbians, gay men and trans people in South Africa.

The project is motivated by the ongoing epidemic of brutal murders of black lesbians in the post-Apartheid South Africa.

© Zanele Muholi  (01/04/2014)

We are in a crisis.
One lesbian death is a loss to the entire nation.
Children have been orphaned by hate crimes.
Lovers lost their beloved.
Family members mourn their relatives and children.
The workplace and classroom is robbed of its professions.

South Africa’s democratic laws instituted by the Constitution of 1996 are meant to protect the LGBTI community from all forms of discrimination, but our communities have been invaded by an epidemic of violent hate crimes, including callous murders and ‘curative rapes.’

Therefore we need to take action as concerned members of larger the society.Innocent individuals have been dismembered due to sexuality and gender expression.

The performance takes form of a stage protest, poetry, song and musical instruments are used to emphasize the ongoing incidents.

The performance will expand on an existing body of work that documents hate crimes against black lesbians that Zanele Muholi developed since 2004 and consists of three parts:
PART 1 – Blank Portraits
PART 2 – Crime scene memorial (motion picture)
PART 3 – Previous Film titled ‘Isililo’ – projection

Zanele Muholi is a visual activist born in Umlazi, Durban and currently lives in Johannesburg. Studied Photography at Market Photo Workshop, Newtown, Johannesburg and later, MFA: Documentary Media at Ryerson University, Toronto. Muholi is the founder of a collective call Inkanyiso with a Queer Art Activism media outlet. She has contributed her photography to many queer and art publications and academic journals.

Maureen Velile Majola is an activist, poet and writer from Alexandra township, Johannesburg in South Africa. She is a young feminist and currently associated with Coalition of African Lesbian (CAL) as the Documenting Officer. She is a crew member of Inkanyiso.org founded by Zanele Muholi.

Jelena Kuljic was born in Serbia and moved to Germany in 2003 to study singing at the Jazz Institute Berlin. Along with her own band, Yelena K & The Love Trio (Double Moon Records 2010), she has been a featured guest in many music and theatre projects through-out Europe. Jelena has worked extensively as a singer and actress with the director David Marton. Some of the their productions have included such important theatres as Vienna’s Burg Theater, The Royal Theater of Copenhagen, Volksbuehne Berlin, MC93 Paris/ Schaubühne. Since 2013 Jelena is working with Constanza Macras/Dorkypark. In March 2014 Jelena’s band KUU! is releasing their first album Sex gegen Essen.

 by Sebenzile Langa (previously known as Nkosi)

As hard as it is, it is so worth it. My marimba band performed at this year’s Sasol Bird Fair 2014 and they have been performing at the festival since 2011. Every year they get better. The hardest part is starting a new band every year as pupils leave to go to high school. Teaching music comes with its joys but it is also hard because students grow so fast and so do parents, and as much as things change, they also stay the same.

It is proven that music makes one smarter. One then wonders why when the pass rate of our country is 30%, a small number of children are picking up instruments and many of them in the sports field?

Our education department has grown a lot, adding arts and culture in its curriculum. However many of these children are being taught by people who have no training in the field. It is criminal really.  The grade 7 textbooks is really the best book in arts so far, however I wonder how those teachers are coping in teaching activities that require marimbas.  In the suburb I teach in, in the south of Johannesburg, we are the only school with marimbas. Most schools have recorders. There are not many teachers trained or that can even play instruments, while many trained musicians go without jobs hoping for get employment from the army or police bands.

Playing in orchestras is not cheap, you have to pay a fee, just for the experience.

Two of my students made it into the National School of Arts (NAC). As happy an occasion as it is, this means I now have 6 pupils that have made it through. I pray for their future.

25 June is instrument demonstration at Mondeor Primary School. I hope more children pick up an instrument and stay off the streets.

Previous by Sebenzile

2014 April 30:  Good spirit dampened by my grandfather’s death

All photos by Charmain Carrol
12/07/2014

May her beautiful soul rest in peace.

Previous article

2014 July 11: Another expert in black lesbian community dies

My name is woman…
My name is woman who loves women
I am created in the image of human
Seek I not in hell nor heaven for
I exist only in the midst
of the haves and the have nots
of the world…

To define me, love is the word
All I ever practice was to love and needed to be loved…
Not to abused, extorted, raped
Today, I lay on the bed drowning in my tears of extortion
What happened to concern of my liberation?
Today I lay in a hospital bed, my body aches from being abused…
What happened to allowing me to explain instead of being wrongfully accused?

Today I lay in a coffin, dead being raped
I could no longer tolerate
I have been raped for being a woman
I have been raped in ”correction” of loving another woman
I have been raped over and over again by so many men once at a time and many a time…
I have been killed and dumped in trash cans, toilets, dump sites, you name it…
I have been buried with no justice served,
a case trial that comes to no conclusion

My name is woman
I am created in the image of human
Do not even try
To diverge me mind
From the truth it seeks
For itself it speaks
The only war I know is to protect
My loved ones and those you neglect
Why do you feel the sudden urge to engage me in your violent war
I wish not to know nor practice

This skill I was not naturally given
How is your sin deserving to be forgiven?
Why deem it fit to prove your manhood upon me?
Don’t u trust and know your value without enforcing it on me?

My name is woman who loves women
I AM created in the image of human
I am capable of bearing children
as I am of loving my own caliber
My soft skin is not for your rough hands
My beautiful body is not for your sexual trends
My healthy heart is not for you to hate

My lady lover is not for you to bait
My heart and hands are to love her
My body and belly are to feel her
My face and feet are to stand for her
My mouth and mind are to save her
If you too were to
focus on she who loves thee

You would be able to embrace
The blessing in your embrace
This is dedicated To the women that carry us,
cry for us,
care for us,
depend on us
defend us,
die for us,
LOVE, PEACE & HAPPINESS where you are…
Stay beautiful, brave and blessed!!!

© Lebo Mashifane
Aug.9, 2014

At the forefront of our struggle, at this time of sadness… Activists from Gay Umbrella leading the way to the sport grounds before the Memorial service of Disebo Gift Makau...

Angry community members demanding justice for Disebo…

On the right is Mr P.de Wit from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) waiting for the memorandum to be signed.

Jabu Perreira, director of Iranti-Org aiming for the best shot of the marchers.

Salute comrades…

Ayihlale phansi ibambe umthetho

Member of the Gay Umbrella in Mafikeng at the forefront of the march entering the sport grounds.

Sekwanele manje is a Zulu expression which means ‘Enough is enough…”

Malusi John Tau in a white t-shirt (centred) by fellow comrades leading the march to the Ventersdorp Police Station

Fed up community members holding placards with strong messages…

Mildred Maropefele, head of Gay Umbrella organisation in Mafikeng…

Even policemen can be documenters…

Councillor Mapule Mataboge signing the memorandum before it was handed over to the NPA representative
… with Thabiso from Gay Umbrella.

 Col. H. Vermeulen in charge of the march…

After the march the protesters proceeded to the Makau home where the prayer meeting was held…

Photos by Lindeka Qampi
Text by Odidi Mfenyana

A month  before in the same Centre for the Book, almost in the exact same spot as Zanele Muholi sat on Wednesday 20 August 2014 for the Debate on Homosexuality in Africa hosted by Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR), stood the legendary Angela Davis.
Discussing the evolution of racism Angela Davis asked us to no longer be surprised by incidents of racism. Davis asked us to work steadfastly and comprehensively towards a non-racist society, knowing that racism exists n permeates our everyday existence.

Zanele Muholi a month later stood at the same place drawing attention to South Africa’s most fashionable hate crime of the moment “Corrective Rape”.

Not wanting to be drawn into an academic talk shop about the origins of African homosexuality, Muholi went for the jugular reality.

Zanele named all the high profile hate crimes since 2003 starting with the horrific mass murder at Sizzlers in Sea Point and ending with the recent gruesome rape and murder of Gift Makau in Ventersdorp.

No sooner had the “debate” come to its flaccid end when Muholi had my manager book me on the first flight to Jozi to join her covering the Memorial Service in Ventersdorp. It was time to roll up my sleeves n get stuck in.
Meeting at the boarding gate Thursday morning at 6am we landed n Muholi’s driver took us straight to Ventersdorp.

Ventersdorp already synonymous with racist White Supremacy n blighted by the legend of Eugene Terreblanche, now added the death of Disebo Gift Makau to its gothic accolades.

When we arrived at lunchtime Thursday, to my surprise a full media circus had rolled into town with the ruling party in full force of condemnation n indignation. ANC t-shirts were on almost every citizen. A new civil organisation under the Gay Umbrella was formed. A suspect had been apprehended. A union of Mothers of previously raped and murdered lesbians had come from Gauteng to lend support. Even CNN had come round for interviews.

The memorial service was more than well organised it was typical overreaction. Instead if homophobia, misogyny and poverty had been positively proactively been challenged, if previous cases had been properly investigated and successfully prosecuted we would not have been standing at another Memorial of a raped and murdered young woman in Women’s Month.

Again the LGBT community had to force its way onto the service’s programme after it seemed it was about to turn into an election rally.
“We want action! why must we still fight for rights”
Was the call from fellow women n lesbians
“we are tired of condemnation we want proactive action”

In Tshing, Ext. 2, Ventersdorp, people have grown tired of looking back in anger. People want a change for the better living the rights of our Constitution.

With that said it is time that Black Queer Artists take a stand and denounce the ongoing hate crimes in our townships. We need to produce work that focus mainly on these atrocities. We can’t rely on governmental mandates and foreign sympathy because it is WE (LGBTI community) who are being brutalized and murdered on daily basis.

Related article

2014 Aug. 19: Makau family mourns the brutal murder of their beloved

and

From Media24

Woman killed for being a lesbian – report

by Lindeka Qampi & Zanele Muholi

Where: Stadium Hall, Ext. 2. Ventersdorp
Camera used:  Canon 6D with different lenses

Related links

2014 Aug. 19: Makau family mourns the brutal murder of their beloved

Text by Lerato Dumse
Photos by Lindeka Qampi

When the casket carrying the body of Disebo Gift Makau (23), was lowered six feet underground at a Ventersdorp cemetery, in the North West, on August 23.

Queer mourners franked the coffin of Disebo during the funeral service…          and burst into song

Family and friends who gathered in Tshing township to bid her goodbye, could not contain their emotions.
While some wailed uncontrollably, others shed their tears in silence, with pain, sorrow and sadness written on their faces.

Gift’s body was discovered in the middle of Women’s month, on August 15 by her neighbor in the yard where she was killed.

Speaking to mourners at the funeral, a relative Assah Molapo explained how he arrived on the scene to find Gift’s half naked and lifeless body, with a few other people gathered.

He narrated how the wire used while strangling Gift had punctured her skin and was still lodged inside her neck.
Adding that about 20cm of hose pipe was inserted in her mouth, tied with a shoe lace and left with water running inside her body.

A manhunt began leading to the suspect’s arrest days later.
Molapo said it was tracing Gift’s last steps that helped them to narrow down the suspect list.

Molapo revealed when the suspect’s mother realised her son was a suspect, she launched an investigation of her own in her house.

Leading to the discovery of a cell phone she didn’t recognize, which she handed over, and it was identified as belonging to Gift.
While the letter he (suspect) sent, after writing it to his mom while in jail, is expected to also be used in prosecuting him.

  
Now the man whom Gift considered to be a close friend, having grown up playing together in the same community is facing a rape and murder charge.

While Gift was due to have collected her diploma certificate in Business Management on the day her body was discovered.

What is also disheartening for Molapo when describing the scene, is the state of the grass and flowers which he said is an indication of the physical struggle that went on for a long time that fateful evening.

He said people’s failure to act by going to see what was happening or call the police when they heard Gift’s screams. He is inconsolable with the claim that people who were 5 meters away heard nothing, while those 70 meters away heard her cries.

Ward councilor, Mapule Mataboge was at the forefront in the uproar and condemnation for Gift’s murder. She said she has always had a close relationship with LGBTI people in her community who come to her for assistance when facing family problems and even relationship problems.

She remembered Gift as a child, always smiling and polite, even when she was being reprimanded.
Mataboge appealed to parents of LGBTI children to change their stereotypes, discrimination and calling their own children names.

Freddy Dunjane SAFA chairperson for the competition committee in Ventersdorp said Gift was the first female referee in Ventersdorp.

Gift played defense for her team Real Mighty Ladies, and was affectionately known as Owen by her teammates.

While Thabang Mangane president of the SRC at Vuselela FET said they would be marching to court to show support for Gift and ensure the suspect doesn’t get bail.
“Gays and lesbians are from our families, we must eat and laugh with them, not murder them,” added Mangane.

Related links

2014 Aug. 22: Photos from Disebo Gift Makau’s memorial service

and

2014 Aug. 19: Makau family mourns the brutal murder of their beloved