South Africa is the only African country to allow gay marriage and adoption.
Photograph by: Jack Guez , AFP/Getty Images
JOHANNESBURG
- South Africa's National House of Traditional Leaders wants parliament
to delete a clause in the constitution that guarantees equal rights to
homosexuals, a media report said Sunday.
The leaders, who advise the government on traditional laws and customs among ethnic groups such as the Zulu and Xhosa, made the request in reply to the annual invitation to submit suggestions to parliament's constitutional review committee, City Press reported.
The weekly newspaper said the ruling African National Congress (ANC) would consider the proposal.
South Africa is the only African country to allow gay marriage and adoption.
Its constitution, adopted after the fall of apartheid in 1994, reads: "The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including... sexual orientation."
ANC lawmaker Patekile Holomisa, who chairs the constitutional review committee and is also a traditional leader, said ANC leaders had imposed equal rights for gays on party members and the country.
"The great majority does not want to give promotion and protection to these things," he told City Press.
"The
last time this issue was discussed was about same-sex marriages. Most
of the people in the (parliamentary) caucus were opposed to it, but then
Luthuli House (ANC headquarters) and the leadership instructed us to
vote for it."
Holomisa, who said he fears the ruling party will lose votes if it ignores the traditional values of its electoral base, called homosexuality "a condition that occurred when certain rituals have not been performed".
Despite South Africa's liberal constitution, homosexuals still face discrimination, harassment and violence, especially in black townships, where lesbians are commonly targeted for "corrective rape" in the belief that sex with a man can change their sexual orientation.
The leaders, who advise the government on traditional laws and customs among ethnic groups such as the Zulu and Xhosa, made the request in reply to the annual invitation to submit suggestions to parliament's constitutional review committee, City Press reported.
The weekly newspaper said the ruling African National Congress (ANC) would consider the proposal.
South Africa is the only African country to allow gay marriage and adoption.
Its constitution, adopted after the fall of apartheid in 1994, reads: "The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including... sexual orientation."
ANC lawmaker Patekile Holomisa, who chairs the constitutional review committee and is also a traditional leader, said ANC leaders had imposed equal rights for gays on party members and the country.
"The great majority does not want to give promotion and protection to these things," he told City Press.
 |
Photograph by: Jack Guez , AFP/Getty Images |
Holomisa, who said he fears the ruling party will lose votes if it ignores the traditional values of its electoral base, called homosexuality "a condition that occurred when certain rituals have not been performed".
Despite South Africa's liberal constitution, homosexuals still face discrimination, harassment and violence, especially in black townships, where lesbians are commonly targeted for "corrective rape" in the belief that sex with a man can change their sexual orientation.
Agence-France Presse
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