6 APRIL 2022 

For immediate release

Iranti welcomes the Atteridgeville Regional Court’s decision to sentence Getwin Moloto, 30, and Lebohang Makola, 35, to life imprisonment for the hate crime rape of a 19-year-old lesbian woman in 2020.

The victim was attacked  on 16 December 2020 in Atteridgeville while she was returning home. She  was trying to open a gate at her home when she was accosted by Moloto, Makola and another person.She was carried to a shack, where she was raped.

In court prosecutors argued that hatred against the victim’s sexuality was a key motivation in the attack, describing it as a hate crime. While both rapists pleaded not guilty to rape, the state was able to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Iranti would also like to commend our colleagues at Access Chapter 2 (AC2) for  providing psychosocial support for the victim and mobilising support from Atteridgeville community members and the LGBTI+ community in surrounding areas to picket during court appearances throughout the case. 

We hope that we will see many more such prosecutions in future in order to send a strong message to violent and homophobic perpertrators that hate crimes against the LGBTIQ community will not be tolerated. In 2020 at least 20 LGBTIQ individuals were killed and violently assaulted in circumstances that suggest their sexual orientation or identity was the reason that they were targeted. Many of these victims are yet to see justice. 

We call upon parliament to urgently finalise the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill, in order to offer stronger legal protections for the LGBTIQ community. We call upon the government to prioritise properly funding, resourcing and restoring the functionality of failing entities such as the National and Provincial Task Teams and the Rapid Response Team that were meant to address violence against LGBTIQ+ South Africans.

It is not enough that the human rights of LGBTIQ persons are enshrined and protected in the constitution when we continue to live in fear of violence and discrimination. Our lived experiences must reflect the constitutional protections that the LGBTIQ community enjoys and this will require more than just legal remedies, but also a social compact that promotes mutual respect for difference and understanding for our diversity as people. 

For media enquiries contact: 

Nolwazi Tusini, Communications and Media Manager 

nolwazi@iranti.org.za