Victim relives transgender ‘test’ torture allegedly by church leaders

Karabo Ndlovu has a quiet confidence about her. Her voice is soft but steady and her tone, matter-of-fact. But she breaks down when she talks about the day church elders – who wanted to see if she was a “real” woman – allegedly stripped her naked and assaulted her. For most of her life, the church was a place of belonging for Ndlovu. She has always identified as transgender.

“It was hard for the community to understand,” she told The Citizen. “But the church welcomed me with open arms.” Ndlovu was raised Catholic, but in 2013 she joined the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC) in Tweefontein G. A year prior, she had had gender reassignment surgery. She wanted the world to recognise who she was.

“The surgery changed my life,” she said. While she was attending the IPHC, Ndlovu became engaged. Her then fiancé, she was adamant, knew about her surgery – as did her priest. But shortly after the church learnt of their pending marriage, Ndlovu said, she was summoned to an office at the Zuurbekom branch to answer to the priest and a group of elders who wanted to – as she described it in a police statement – “check my sexuality”.

The Citizen made multiple unsuccessful attempts to contact chair of the church’s executive council, Abiel Wessie, this week.

Ndlovu explained she was taken to a bathroom, forced to strip, assaulted and then left bleeding on the floor. Her then fiancé left her shortly afterwards. Ndlovu reported her ordeal to the police in her hometown of KwaMhlanga the next day. That was more than five years ago and, she says, to date no one has been arrested. It is unclear, though, at what stage investigations are.

In the meantime, Ndlovu has launched a civil claim against the IPHC in the Equality Court in Ga-Rankuwa in the North West. She is seeking R5 million in damages and an unconditional apology.

She is now married and relocated to a new branch of the church.

– bernadettew@citizen.co.za

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