Minister Nkoana-Mashabane must account for anti-LGBTI vote at UN
08 July 2014
The DA will write to the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, to demand an urgent explanation for South Africa's endorsement of the exclusion of LGBTI families from a resolution passed by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
According to reports by the Director of the Human Rights Watch LGBT Rights Programme, South Africa not only voted for the resolution but also supported Russia's proposal to shut down any discussion around an "inclusive family".
The resolution calls on the High Commissioner for Human Rights to draft a report on the status of the family. It is critical, given the increase in homophobic legislation, that this also include same-sex families.
This move by the South African delegation flies directly in the face of the Department of Justice's task team set up in 2011 to address the rise in hate crimes against members of the LGBTI community that have shocked the country in recent years.