DA calls for the protection of LGBTIQ community
24 July 2018
Today the Democratic Alliance in the North West picketed outside the Potchefstroom Magistrate Court during the court appearance of a man accused of raping and assaulting an LGBTIQ teenager. Please see photos here, here, here and here.
The DA was there to support both the victim and her family, and picketed in solidarity with the LGBTIQ community that faces an increase in violent and hate crimes on an everyday basis.
The victim was severely assaulted and had to be admitted to the hospital where she stayed in ICU for a number of days.
The DA welcomes the decision by the accused to abandon his bail application and the case will now go on trial in the Regional Court on 30 July 2018.
It is tragic that the LGBTIQ community continues to be discriminated against and has to live with the rising violence against them, this leaves them vulnerable and fearing for their lives.
Reports have indicated that in the JB Marks area alone there have been at least five brutal attacks from rape to murder, in the past two years alone against the LGBTIQ community.
The DA will write to the MEC for Community Safety, Dr. Mpho Motlhabane, asking him to address the rise in LGBTIQ violence and requesting him to establish an awareness programme to be rolled out across North West communities to educate people on the rights of the LGBTIQ community.
It is time that the ANC government establishes a platform to reduce the stigma and discrimination that the LGBTQI community experiences. The people of North West deserve change under a DA-led government that strives for an environment where every person can live in peace, without being discriminated against.
We all have the same rights as our South African Constitution states and respecting the rights of others does not take away from your own rights. South Africa is a free and diverse country that belongs to all who live in it, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.
Issued by Joe McGluwa, DA North West Provincial Leader, 24 July 2018
