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Ukuhlangana kobuntu — Intersecting struggles and solidarity in the fight for equality in Africa

Gibson Ncube
By Gibson Ncube
25 May 2023
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It is important to keep in mind that the plight of LGBTI individuals is not in any way detached from other struggles. The late South African LGBTI and HIV-Aids activist Simon Nkoli showed that the struggle of LGBTI people was directly linked to other forms of struggles and oppression.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights have certainly taken a mixed turn in Africa over the last few years. On the one hand, there have been some significant and encouraging advances, such as the decriminalisation of same-sex relationships in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Seychelles.

On the other hand, there have also been several major setbacks for LGBTI rights across the continent.

In March 2023, the Ugandan Parliament passed what is viewed as one of the harshest anti-LGBTI laws in the world, punishing some offences with the death penalty and imposing sentences of up to 20 years in jail for people engaging in same-sex sex.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Uganda parliament passes harsh anti-LGBTQ bill mostly unchanged

It is important to keep in mind that the plight of LGBTI individuals is not in any way detached from other struggles. In the early 1990s, South African LGBTI and HIV-Aids activist Simon Nkoli showed that the struggle of LGBTI people was directly linked to other forms of struggles and oppression.

During what was arguably the first Pride march in Africa in 1990, he explained that “the struggle (is) for a democratic South Africa where everybody has equal rights and everyone is protected by law; black and white, men and women, gay and straight”. What Nkoli’s words highlight, I believe, is the fact that oppressions and struggles are intersectional in nature.

Learning from collective oppression


Intersectionality refers to how different forms of oppression relate to each other. It highlights the complex ways of experiencing manifold forms of marginalisation. For example, the struggles of LGBTI individuals are linked to the struggles of women. Women’s struggles, in Africa, are interconnected to the struggles of black people more broadly. What this means, therefore, is that different oppressed people and groups of people can learn from each other’s oppressions.

Sambulo Ndlovu, a scholar of African studies, explains in this same light that it is important to consider how the humanity of some has been doubted by dominant power. According to him, it therefore becomes important to think of how “patriarchy doubts the humanity of women, ethnic majorities doubt the humanity of others, heterosexuals doubt the humanity of homosexuals, nationals doubt the humanity of foreigners and non-disabled people doubt the humanity of disabled people.”

Even though I speak about shared struggles and oppressions, I am not oblivious to the fact that struggles and oppressions, although shared, are not the same. They cannot be homogenised.

The struggles of a gay man living in a leafy suburb cannot in any way be the same as the struggles of a gay man living in a shack. The challenges faced by a white lesbian woman living in Cape Town cannot in any way be compared to the trials and tribulations of a black lesbian woman who lives in Kampala. Shared struggles can never be equal. They are never black and white.

Even before and during the first Pride march of 1990, although queer people from different classes and different races marched together, it would be short-sighted to imagine that all those people were equal.

Simon Nkoli was very clear in underscoring that even within the gay liberation movement in South Africa, there were splinters due mainly to racial differences. According to him, the Gay and Lesbian Association of South Africa, which organised the first Pride march, did not necessarily represent the demands of black people.

If struggles can be shared but not generalised, I am convinced that it has always been possible for resistance and solidarity to be shared. Despite the heterogeneity of struggles, shared resistance and solidarity are possible.

But for these shared resistances and solidarities to work and be effective, different members of these intersectional networks must fight against oppressive power structures and systems to identify and acknowledge their own privileges.

Unity through recognition


Black queer men would need to recognise the privilege that they enjoy from being men. White queer men, for example, would need to accept the gender, racial and class privileges they have. I wonder though if black women, especially queer black women, enjoy any privileges.

The fight for social justice and social equality demands collaborative and joint efforts. I find very interesting the isiZulu term for intersectionality coined by Zandile Manzini, “ukuhlangana kobuntu”, which literally means the coming together of humanity.

Any sustainable forms of resistance and solidarity need to repose on the idea of not just bringing people together. What is required is to restore the humanness, “ubuntu”, of people. Fighting oppression demands that the humanity, humanness, and dignity of everyone is respected and revered, regardless of social class, race, ethnicity, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, or nationality.

“Ukuhlangana kobuntu” compels us to acknowledge that fighting deeply ingrained social systems like patriarchy, racism, homophobia, and xenophobia requires us to build solidarity through hospitality and generosity. Ukuhlangana kobuntu also means drawing on our shared humanity, in its diversity.

Therefore, whatever endangers or jeopardises ubuntu or the humanity or humanness of just one person (through marginalisation, stigmatisation, labelling, profiling, or violence) goes against the very idea of ukuhlangana kobuntu, which confers humanness on every human being. 

In this week of celebrating Africa Day (25 May), we should think of the struggles of LGBTI individuals on the continent. We should remember the immense contributions of late LGBTI activists like Simon Nkoli and Noxolo Nogwaza from South Africa, David Kato from Uganda and Edwin Chiloba from Kenya who fought for the creation of democratic states in Africa in which all people could live dignified lives without fear of discrimination.

But we must not just shine the light on the plight of the LGBTI community; we must also consider the diverse forms of oppression faced by many other groups in Africa. Let us call attention to other fights that still need to be fought, systems of oppression that still need to be dismantled and solidarities that still need to be forged. DM

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