South Africa, 14 July 2015

Njabulo Maseko presents on human rights violation on transgender persons at last year’s Transgender day of Remembrance November 2014,Constitution Hill, Johannesburg

Njabulo Maseko with Jabu Pereira of Iranti, Gloden Thani of the Department of Education and Neloufar Khan of Social Development on Transgender Day of Remembrance 20 November 2014.

Njabulo Maseko was part of the organising team with Transgender and Intersex Africa and Iranti for the preparation of the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) event, Constitution Hill.

It was with great shock and sadness that Iranti learnt of the sudden passing of Thando Njabulo Maseko on 12 July 2015.

 

Iranti first heard of Njabulo’s work as a young activist while he was founder of the Emalahleni LGBTI group, and had the pleasure of working with him while he served in that role. He later became the advocacy officer at Transgender and Intersex Africa (TIA) – a position he took up in September last year. Iranti and TIA organised the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) in 2014 and Njabulo was a key presence on this day. He made many contributions to the trans* movement in the country and helped it move forward. His work here will not soon be forgotten.

 

For those of us who had the privilege of calling him “friend” outside of work, we were humbled by his kindness and compassion to everyone around him. We’ll remember his jovial spirit and penchant for storytelling, and the effortless way in which he harmoniously weaved together his deep commitment to his culture and traditions, with his passion for human rights.

 

Our heartfelt condolences and support to TIA and his family during this difficult time. We will forever remember him as a poet, an activist, a colleague, a healer and a friend. He will be greatly missed.

 

With our heartfelt condolences,
The Iranti team
14 July 2015