Gay community to picket court after man murdered

The LGBTQIA+ community has called on the public to stand in solidarity with those picketing outside the court in KwaNobuhle, Uitenhage, where a man is expected to appear on a charge of murder.

This is after a gay man’s mutilated and burnt body was found in a shallow grave in a yard on Saturday.

The victim has been identified as Andile Ntuthela, known as Lulu.

“While the LGBTQIA+ community is in shock at the increase of premeditated murders directed at members of the LGBTQIA+ community in villages and in provinces around our country,” the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of South Africa said on Monday.

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“We go to bed tonight yet again, with our hearts filled with agony, feeling like prisoners in our own homes and public spaces, because Andile Ntuthela fondly known as Lulu, who has succumbed to death at the hands of yet another homophobe in Uitenhage, Eastern Cape.”

The organisation called for a collective effort by members and organisations of the LBTQIA+ to help end acts of gender-based violence against members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

“Communities must unite for a common purpose and call for harsher sentencing, the prioritisation of LGBTQIA+ hate crimes and stricter legislation that will ensure that LGBTQIA+ communities, particularly the townships and rural areas enjoy their constitutional freedoms of equal opportunities, justice and rights.

“We further call upon allies and members of the LGBTQIA+ community to observe Covid-19 protocols and show solidarity with those that will be picketing for justice to be served to the alleged murderer of our beloved Lulu,” the organisation said.

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The hashtag #JusticeForLulu has been trending on social media as South Africans call for more to be done to end hate crimes.

This comes just a few days after another gay man, Sphamandla Khoza, from Ntuzuma in KwaZulu-Natal was killed.

This past month (March 2021) saw the gruesome deaths of Nonhlanhla Kunene & Sphamandla Khoza (see screenshots). LGBTIQ+ people in South Africa are under siege!!! #JusticeForSpha #JusticeForNon pic.twitter.com/b7jYSx6WgD

— #JusticeForSphamandla (@Akena_Leina) April 2, 2021