Director of the Programme,
Facilitators,
Director General of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development,
Officials of government departments,
Representatives of Chapter 9 Institutions,
Representatives of NGOs, CSOs, donour community and other organizations dealing with LGBTI issues.
It is indeed an honour and pleasure to be given the opportunity to make closing remarks during this very important workshop. As many of you may know, I have been part of this process in my previous Portfolio as Deputy Minister in the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. It is quite heartening for me to be part of this process once more, in my new Portfolio as Deputy Minister in the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
I thank you because you are sending a powerful message, that the struggle to end violence against LGBTI persons is not a struggle of the criminal justice system or of the LGBTI community but the struggle of all of us for the realization of the vision of our Constitution.
I have been briefed about the discussions that took place yesterday.
Let me reflect on just a few of these:
My colleague and comrade, the Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Deputy Minister John Jeffrey, has in a concise way provided the background on the remarkable progress made by our country regarding the protection of the rights of LGBTI persons.
The Deputy Minister outlined the current legislative framework that protects the rights of the LGBTI communities, making us a leading country on our continent and the world. However, he also highlighted the current challenges despite our progressive legislative framework. These challenges manifest themselves in a number of ways, as reflected in the ongoing discrimination against the LGBTI community, which often lead to violence that has claimed and continue to claim the lives of several victims.
Another challenge is that the South African law does not make provision for hate crime offences, meaning that the crimes perpetrated against the LGBTI and other prejudiced communities are merely classified as general crime, ranging for example, from crimen injuria, assault and even murder, and there is no cognizance in law that these crimes are perpetrated on the basis of prejudice against the LGBTI community.
Nevertheless, as has been reported in November last year, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has developed a Policy Framework on Combating Hate Crimes, Hate Speech and Unfair Discrimination. This is a milestone indeed as this policy will go a long way in effectively dealing with crimes and offenses based on prejudice.
Deputy Minister Jeffrey also commented on the work of the National Task Team, highlighting its importance and of course expressing disappointment at the lull and lack of progress during the last year. Nevertheless, he expressed hope that the recent restructuring process in the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, which has resulted in the transfer of the Task Team to another Branch, will go a long way in putting its work back on track.
We are particularly urging the Rapid Response Team to fast track the pending criminal cases against the LGBTI community. I am pleased to note the NTT has adopted clear Terms of Reference. I have also been informed that the Draft Work Plan for 2013/2014 has been discussed extensively.
The Draft Work Plan contained different themes, including CSO Alliance Building, training development, pending cases in the criminal justice system and a communication strategy. Valuable inputs were made that will undoubtedly ensure the finalization, adoption and implementation of the Work Plan.
As Director-General Sindane has alluded, the issue of resources remains a challenge, and donours and partners are urged to come on board to assist with the funding of the Programme. Presentations were also made on the Monitoring Tool of Hate Crimes and the role of traditional leaders on LGBTI issues.
I have been informed that the presentation on the role of traditional leaders on LGBTI issues generated a lot of interest and discussion. Let me reiterate that the National House of Traditional Leaders, as a statutory structure of traditional leadership at national level, is functionally linked to the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, specifically within the Department of Traditional Affairs.
The National House has been established by an Act of Parliament and its activities are wholly funded by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. It is required by law to report to COGTA regularly and to Parliament on a yearly basis. It consists of representatives who have been elected by their respective constituencies.
A clear distinction needs to be made between the NHTL and CONTRALESA, the latter is not a statutory structure and hence is not answerable to government on its operations. Nevertheless, government will continue engaging CONTRALESA, particularly on issues of commonality and differences.
In as much as there have been unfortunate statements made by some traditional leaders in the past about LGBTI communities, government is working closely with traditional leaders, particularly through the National House and Provincial Houses to ensure non-discrimination of people based on sexual orientation.
We commend the visionary leadership of the National and Provincial Houses who have partnered with SAFAIDS on matters of LGBTI. As reported, the partnership has already resulted in the training of a number of traditional leaders in several provinces. Further training programmes have been planned for the current Financial Year. It is also envisaged that all members of the National House of Traditional Leaders will be engaged on LGBTI issues.
The political and administrative leadership of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs is committed to giving full support to this ground breaking initiative.
Programme Director, through capacitating traditional leaders on LGBTI and other critical issues, you are also capacitating millions of people who reside in areas under the jurisdiction of traditional leaders.
As statistics demonstrate, over 20 million people in South Africa reside in traditional areas, and these make traditional leadership key and strategic partners. The key mandate of the NHTL includes advising and supporting government in its programmes. Indeed, the NHTL has in the past partnered with government departments and agencies on a number of programmes, including:
- with the DoJ and NPA on domestic violence (which has resulted in the training of 80 traditional leaders on matters of domestic violence)
- the Department of Correctional Services on the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders
- with SANAC and SAFAIDS on HIV/AIDS, to cite just a few examples.
The Department has also taken note of the call made yesterday for the direct representation of the Department of Cooperative Governance to the National Task Team. Consider that done as I will interact with the DG of Traditional Affairs to ensure compliance.
I also fully endorse the call made yesterday that there must be comprehensive research carried on the incidences of violence against LGBTI persons, in order to identify the hotspots and intervene proactively and effectively.
Based on the presentations and discussions yesterday and today, a number of resolutions have been developed and presented. These resolutions provide a footprint for the work to be done in the future. In all what we do, theory must guide practice and practice must enrich theory. Let do as we talk but let us also continue talking as we do.
As partners, we are in this journey together; we have travelled some distance together. The destination is still far ahead. Notwithstanding the challenges we have encountered in the past and possibly challenges we may still encounter in the future, let us all renew our resolve in the memory of Simon Nkoli and so many others who sacrificed so much to bring us to where we are but also where we need to be.
I thank you!
