lesbians under attack in khayelitsha

By BTM correspondent, Musa Ngubane

November 5, 2003: Early Saturday morning, October 25, 2003, a number of lesbians were together in a house in Mandela Park, Khayelitsha, Cape Town. According to reports a group of straight men tried to force their way into the gathering. The women managed to keep them out and locked the door. The men later disconnected the electricity outside so that the house was dark. When the owner of the house went outside to see what was wrong, she was stabbed by one of the men. It was later disclosed that she knew her attackers.

She later made a statement at the police station. The police mishandled the case and neglected to give her a case number. This meant that despite the fact that she was badly injured she had to return to get one after seeking medical attention. She suffered a deep wound that pierced her lung and required 5 stitches.

Five days later the house where the assault took place was stoned and windows were smashed. Fortunately she was not home at the time.

When Funeka Soldaat, an outreach worker with the Triangle Project, a lesbian and gay organisation in Cape Town, phoned the Harare Police Station in Khayelitsha on Friday, October 31, 2003, to ask why the assault suspect had not been arrested, the police promised to send a detective to the victim so that she could point out the suspect to them. The suspects have still not been arrested however. The women are living in fear of further violence.

Behind the Mask spoke to the communication spokesperson, Pricilla Nongeni who was unable to assist with enquiries and repeated phone calls to other officers at the police station have been fruitless.

In the Cape Argus October 30, Katharyn Williams wrote in her article, "Gay Attacks Rife In Mother City" that gay and lesbian residents in Cape Town's townships are no strangers to attacks. She highlights the case of Funeka Soldaat who was stabbed 11 times in a previous attack.

The article quotes Glenn De Swardt of the Triangle Project as saying. "This agency receives regular reports of lesbian and gay, transgendered residents of Cape Town being exposed to ongoing verbal, physical and sexual abuse.

"Such incidents are rife in black townships where lesbians are often particularly vulnerable to rape purely because of their sexual orientation."

Funeka Soldaat, who nearly died from her wounds, believes she was attacked for being a black lesbian.

"I was walking in Langa with another woman, who people probably thought was my partner. Suddenly my friend told me to watch out and before I realised what was going on, four guys surrounded me and began stabbing me.

"I went to the police but they were 'off' about the whole situation. I was hospitalised for three weeks.

"It's such a sad thing because we (gay and lesbians) don't hurt other people. We are nice to the people we meet so I don't understand why people are so vicious towards us."

Katharyn Williams' article points out that Soldaat said she was too afraid to walk in public with her partner because of her fear of being attacked again.

"I do public awareness so that people can learn to accept and understand gay and lesbian issues. I also try to make sure the communities are tolerant towards the gay people living in the neighbourhoods." Soldaat is reported as saying.

Soldaat believes that incidents like these happen because black people feel that being gay is "un-African".

"They think we are copying it from white people and they often say gay people are dirty and are the reason there is HIV/Aids."

She said women were raped because the men in the community believed they chose to be gay because they couldn't find a good man and hadn't had good sex with a man. They think once raped they could change these women's sexual orientation.

"Most of the lesbians in the community where I stay (Khayelitsha) have been raped, and there are a lot of lesbians in the townships."

information on the Mandela Park case:
Harare Police Station in Khayelitsha. Tel: (021) 363 9014 / 9031
The reference number of the case is: 17/18/03