The Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba, has once again promised to address the ongoing challenges faced by LGBTI South Africans when dealing with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA).

Gigaba met with Access Chapter 2, an LGBTI human rights organisation, on Friday to discuss matters of concern around services rendered by the department.

Issues discussed included the Civil Union Amendment Bill; refugee and asylum issues; challenges experienced by transgender persons with respect to birth registration, civil registration and identity documents; as well as collaborative efforts on awareness campaigns and effective function of the DHA/LGBTI Task Team.

The Task Team was established by Gigaba in 2016, consisting of department officials and LGBTI groups, to review legislation, clarify areas in law that are not clear, and to standardise operations at Home Affairs. The team, however, became defunct soon after, especially after Gigaba was controversially moved to head up the Finance Ministry in March 2017. (He was reappointed Minister of Home Affairs in February 2018.)

According to a statement, the minister has now “committed to revitalising the task team with a view to fostering closer working relations with the LGBTI sector.” Key participating units from the department will include Communication, Civic Services, Immigration Services as well as Human Resources.

“As government we cannot refuse service to persons on the basis of gender and religion,” said Gigaba. “We are going to engage with stakeholders including the religious sectors to find solution to these matters. This engagement provides a platform for government to be more vocal on LGBTI issues,” he explained.

The minister added: “Our aim should not just be to comply with the law, but to promote an ethos of diversity and inclusion consistent with the Constitution and our national values.”

Steve Letsike, Executive Director of Access Chapter 2, commented after the meeting: “It is crucial for government to improve their services to everyone. We welcome this engagement to focus on accountability and better service to the LGBTI people in South Africa.” Read more via Mamba