DA to resubmit parliamentary motion to condemn Uganda's anti-gay law
Yesterday the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) released a statement urging South Africa to make its rejection of Uganda's anti-gay law clear and visible.
In light of this urgent call by a Chapter 9 Institution, the DA will resubmit its parliamentary motion without notice condemning the Anti-Homosexuality Bill signed into law by Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni.
Our initial motion to condemn this law and ask Parliament to call on the Minister of International Relations, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, to take action was rejected in its "entirety" by the ANC.
Furthermore I was heckled by numerous ANC MPs when I read out a member statement on this matter in the House. This illustrated clear insensitivity, if not support, for this measure.
Our resubmission will however provide the ANC an opportune moment to finally do the right thing and now adhere to the SAHRC recommendation. They are currently the only political party standing in the way of Parliament making South Africa's position clear.
The ANC's silence on this law is tacit approval of it and it will only serve to erode our moral standing in the international arena.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation's statement merely taking "note of recent developments regarding the situation of LGBTI persons worldwide" is a non-statement and is unacceptable in the face of very severe human rights violations.
As a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, regarded as a champion of human rights, South Africa has a moral obligation to speak out against all laws that seek to discriminate against and violate the rights of vulnerable and marginalised groups.
We cannot let the principle of a human rights based foreign policy, as established by President Nelson Mandela, be undermined without a fight.
Statement issued by Sandy Kalyan MP, Deputy Chief Whip of the Democratic Alliance, February 28 2014
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