A Capetown based gay couple, Shingirai Musekiwa and Elton Chibhebhe fled Zimbabwe to reside in South Africa because they are gay.
Now based in Langa, the activist couple is fighting for the human rights of Zimbabwean homosexuals and the repeal of section 73 of the Zimbabwean Constitution which criminalises homosexuality. Their movement, Zimbabwe LGBTQ+ Crusader reportedly has had interest and support from over 200 people.
“We are demanding that the section of the Zimbabwean Constitution that criminalise gay people be abolished. It doesn’t allow us to be who we are and to love one another,” says Chibhebhe.
After his parents died when he was young, Musekiwa who grew up in Harare fled to South Africa in 2012 after he was disowned by his preacher uncle who raised him, he says.
“Instead of talking to me openly at home my uncle would say horrible things and attack me during his sermons. Fearing that the [Pentecostal] church may attack or report me to the police, I ran away”.
Chibhebhe fled Bulawayo in 2017. He says his mother accepted him for who he is but his father could not cope with his sexuality. “Growing up, I used to think I am the only gay in Zimbabwe. Some of the gay people have confessed that they [only have] wives and children because the environment forced them,” says Chibhebhe.
The couple has set up a Facebook page, where Zimbabweans ask for help with coming out, coping with discrimination and dealing with family rejection and they plan to also run an online awareness campaign on Instagram and Twitter.
After many people lost jobs during the Covid-19 lockdown, the couple was at one-point housing 18 people at their rented two-bedroomed house in Langa. They now have five people in their home. Musekiwa and Chibhebhe are employed as bartenders in a five-star hotel.
Victor Chikalogwe of People Against Suffering and Oppression (PASSOP) in South Africa said they have helped the couple with food parcels and paying rent.He says many gay Africans seeking asylum are still undocumented in Cape Town because of the closure of the Cape Town refugee reception office.
“We have a case of someone who went in 2019 and was given an appointment for 2021. When they go there, sometimes they are teased, asked silly questions about their sexuality, and told to prove they are gay”.
“The system is so corrupt and the officials are homophobic and xenophobic,” says Chikalogwe.
With more homosexual people coming out of the closet, the big question of whether Zimbabwe as a nation is ready to accept the gay community still lingers.
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