Media personality Somizi Mhlongo has addressed controversial comments made by radio presenter Ngizwe Mchunu about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual (LGBTQIA+) community.
Mchunu made the remarks following the wedding of a gay couple in traditional African attire, which circulated on social media. One of the grooms wore traditional Zulu regalia.
In a now-deleted video, Mchunu said: “You guys are taking the power in our warrior attire and sleeping with each other. A man that sleeps with another man is rubbish.
“You guys are causing big problems for us. Somizi must take his people and leave this country, South Africa.”
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Somizi reacts to Mchunu’s comments
Taking to Instagram on Monday, Somizi said he viewed the situation as a learning opportunity.
“There was a huge opportunity to educate each other that was missed,” he said.
He explained that he had learned that there is certain traditional attire that can only be worn by the royal family.
“With all the anger and the noise that has been happening, I was able to find something that I can learn from. And that was a teachable moment for me. I believe that it should be respected, and that is not even negotiable,” he said.
He also urged the LGBTQIA+ community not to buy the regalia out of spite.
“There’s people in the LGBTQ+ community who are saying they are going to buy it, and I’m saying, let’s not do that. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Don’t use this as a reason to justify rudeness or violence,” he said.
Somizi criticised Mchunu’s tone, saying it was rude and incited violence.
“We live in a country where everyone has the human right to be who they want to be, anywhere, anytime. You can’t tell people to leave South Africa just because they are gay,” he said.
Complaint lodged with SA Human Rights Commission
Meanwhile, the United Democratic Movement (UDM) has lodged a formal complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission (HRC) against Mchunu.
In a letter sent to the HRC, UDM’s Mxolisi Makhubu said Mchunu’s comments incited violence against the LGBTQIA+ community.
“I write to lodge a formal complaint against Ngizwe Mchunu for hate speech, incitement to violence and ethnic mobilisation targeting members of the LGBTQIA+ community in South Africa,” Makhubu said.
“His recent utterances, although since deleted, garnered more than one million views online, with hundreds of comments openly calling for the public execution of queer people.”
The commission has since released a statement saying it will communicate the outcome of the assessment of the complaints in due course.
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