Phelokazi Ndlwana, a 24-year-old aspiring chef, is the latest suspected victim of an anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime in South Africa.
An out lesbian, Ndlwana was discovered dead in the town of Khayelitsha outside Cape Town on May 2 after an apparent stabbing. Ndlwana’s murder has not been ruled a hate crime, but her family and friends believe she was killed because she lived openly as a queer woman, according to the the South African news site Independent Online.
“She never started fights with people and was loved by many. We believe this must have been a hate crime and call for justice,” her cousin, Thembalakhe Balele, told the news outlet.
According to Balele, Phelokazi told friends she was going to a bar across the street from her house the evening of her death. After she did not return home, they found her body in a “pool of blood” at an undisclosed location, and witnesses reportedly saw the suspect “walking away carrying a knife.”
A spokesperson for the Khayelitsha police told Independent Online that a 39-year-old man was apprehended Monday in connection with her death. His name has not yet been released to members of the press.
Ndlwana’s murder comes in the wake of a number of cases in which LGBTQ+ South Africans have been found violently killed.
The body of Andile “Lulu” Ntuthela, 40, was found near the home of his alleged killer in a shallow grave in April, according to the South African LGBTQ+ news site Mamba Online. The same month, Sphamandla Khoza, 34, was discovered near his home after being stabbed and having his throat cut In February, 29-year-old Bonang Gaelae was killed after she and her partner were attacked by a man after an argument, according to Mamba Online.
And last year, a 16-year-old lesbian named Liyabona Mabishi was stabbed to death after she accidentally bumped into a man on the street.
As this crisis continues, LGBTQ+ advocacy groups called attention to Ndlwana’s untimely death on social media. The Gay & Lesbian Network, a nonprofit based in eastern South African town of Pietermaritzburg, said that it’s “very unfortunate” that the country’s queer and trans community is “still dealing with more hate crimes” just 4 months into the year.
“Her name is Phelokazi Ndlwana. Remember her name. Rest in Power,” The Gay & Lesbian Network, a South African LGBTQ group, said on Twitter.
Funeka Soldaat, a local LGBTQ+ activist, called for better strategies to combat gender-based violence and homophobic hate crimes in the country.
“We need more resources to be provided to educate and deal with this scourge, just because such issues don’t receive much attention doesn’t mean there is a season where they stop,” Soldaat told Independent Online.
South Africa has had inclusive nondiscrimination laws in place since 1996 and is the first and only African county to legalize same-sex marriage, but its LGBTQ+ community continues to struggle in the aftermath of apartheid. Notably, each of the victims mentioned above was a Black, queer person.
Ndlwana was a former treasurer for the Congress of South African Students (COSAS), an anti-apartheid student organization. Its acting chairperson, Zandile Matyeni, called her a leader who “stood firm” in fighting for LGBTQ+ equality.
“Like a candle, she burnt herself for the benefit of others,” Matyeni told the Independent Online. “Indeed she did not die, but she multiplied.”
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