36 years of Joburg Pride, but homophobia remains a reality

SK

Sara-Jayne Makwala King

21 October 2025 | 8:40

As Johannesburg Pride returns under the theme ‘Purely, Queerly, African’, organisers say the event is a bold reminder that LGBTQIA+ rights remain under threat.

36 years of Joburg Pride, but homophobia remains a reality

Picture: Devon Thomas/Eyewitness News

Purely, queerly, African. 

That's the banner revellers and attendees to the 36th Johannesburg Pride will be celebrating under this weekend in the Sandton CBD.

The theme serves as a living reminder that the lived realities of many LGBTQIA+ people still don't align with the freedoms they are afforded under the Constitution, says Kaye Ally, executive director of Johannesburg Pride and founder of Pride of Africa.

"If you look at the incidence of hate crimes that happened and are still ongoing with the SAHRC and the de-Africanisation of the LGBT community, there's still a lot of violence and discrimination we are facing."

Ally's comments follow the homophobic remarks made by former radio host, Ngizwe Mchunu, earlier in October after images of the traditional wedding of two men appeared on social media.

Crosby Jodwana and Simon Sean Nhlapo were married in Xhosa and Zulu regalia. Mchunu urged people not to attend same-sex weddings where queer people wear traditional Zulu attire.

The families of the couple slammed the former presenter's comments as "a direct affront to the dignity, equality, and freedoms enshrined in the supreme law of this country".

Ally has a message to members of that community ahead of the event this weekend: "We're saying we see you, you belong; you don't have to shrink to survive."

She added that Mchunu's comments served as a firm reminder of why Pride still exists.

"We, as an African community, still need visibility. It's more than just words on paper. We need to not allow anyone to dim our voices."

To listen to Ally talking to 702's Bongani Bingwa, use the audio player below:

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