mangera rebuilds repository for equality project

By Musa Ngubane (BTM Reporter)

November 14, 2006: Equality Project finally appointed its new director, Faarooq Mangera, through the board of Lesbian and Gay Equality Project (LGEP).

Mangera is set to bring life to the organisation after several months of its insolvency. The organisation sank into severe financial troubles and was declared liquidated in April last year after which its former director Evert Knoesen allegedly mismanaged funds.

While the new director is still beaming with delight, he concedes however that the revived Equality Project is still repositioning itself, and therefore there shouldn’t be much anticipation.

“The organisation still has scars of its past. We are still growing, and to move forward we need to accept the adversities that this organisation had in the past”, the new director said, also boasting the organisation’s success since its alignment within the LGEP’s strongholds.

Qualified as a human nutritionist and virologist, Mangera resumed with duties of directorship on 1 November this year. He outlined the intentions of the organisation that it will continue with advocacy, lobbying and human rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) communities.

He commends the LGEP board for latently sustaining the organisation’s functions all of these times.

“The board spring-cleaned the financial mess that the organisation was in. It submitted a fairly powerful submission which called for parliament to let the Civil Union Bill slide so the Constitutional Court decision can triumph it, also registered a letter of complaint following the hate speeches that were made in the public hearings by some prominent individuals who refereed to homosexuality as deviant.” Mangera said.

Mangera pointed out that he would like to leave a mark in the organisation, and to be considerate as to how he does it. He acknowledges the importance of doing things both democratically and traditionally. “I like meeting and interfacing in procedures that stand to produce gains”, he vaunted.

Mangera also brings teaching experience to the organisation as well as good governance. Again, he worked for Programme for Technological Careers (PROTEC) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID).