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01 June 2018 Photo Mamosa Makaya
Dialogue on LGBTIQ rights in the legal profession reveals slow progress
Justice Edwin Cameron, Sivuyile Mphatheni and Maralize Conradie
The Black Lawyers Association, in collaboration with the Faculty of Law at the University of the Free State (UFS), held a public dialogue on the rights of the LGBTIQ+ community in the legal profession on 25 May, on the Bloemfontein Campus. On the panel were prominent activists for LGBTIQ+ rights, Justice Edwin Cameron, Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa; Maralize Conradie, UFS lecturer in Mercantile Law; and Sivuyile Mphatheni, a Law student and member of the Black Lawyers Association.

Liberal but not yet free
The Constitution of South Africa is considered to be one of the most liberal and inclusive in Africa and the world by protecting the rights of same-sex partnerships pertaining to family rights; marriage and adoption. Yet despite these provisions LGBTIQ+ legal professionals still experience discrimination in the workplace. “The LGBTIQ+ community should be regarded as a demonstration of the complexity of human nature, rather than a minority group,” said Conradie. She said the shift in mind-set could allow for more open dialogue, sharing of knowledge, building of trust, and upholding the rights of minority people. Speaking on behalf of law students, Sivuyile Mphatheni said that despite the many victories, there was still a long way to go to achieving full equality for the LGBTIQ+ community.

Discrimination still holding back society
Speaking to students from all walks of life, Justice Cameron gave a breakdown of various forms of discrimination and the effects they have on the human pysche. Actions such as racism, sexism, sexual harassment, the stigma of people living with HIV/Aids, and the upholding patriarchy in society all infringe on the rights of others, causing a society that is fraught with fear, hate and pain.
  
“South Africa is one of the most progressive countries in Africa regarding human rights, including freedom of speech,” said Justice Cameron. He added that unlike in some African countries where same-sex relationships are still criminalised, the youth of South Africa have a voice. He therefore encouraged students to use it to become change agents, and to eradicate discrimination of all forms.

The Black Lawyers Association, as thought leaders, held the event as a call to action to the entire UFS community to begin to sensitise those around them to the plight of the LGBTIQ+ in the law profession and in society as a whole.

News Archive

First UFS/AS Young African Scholar Award winner announced
2016-03-10

Description: Fana Gebresenbet Erda Tags: Fana Gebresenbet Erda

Fana Gebresenbet Erda, winner of the first University of the Free State /Africa Spectrum Young African Scholar Award, for his research on political economy.
Photo: Supplied

Scholarship in African Studies still faces the challenge of capacity-building to increase ownership by authors and institutions from and on the African continent. It also requires more coordinated efforts to provide the space deserved by African authors in the international domain. In 2015, the University of the Free State (UFS) Centre for Africa Studies joined forces with Africa Spectrum (AS) in a bid to address this issue by establishing the UFS/AS Young African Scholar Award.

This award seeks to strengthen efforts to promote internationally recognised African scholarship in African Studies. One way to achieve this objective is through publishing articles by researchers based in Africa and in the diaspora in Africa Spectrum, an accredited journal compiled by the German Institute of Global and Area Studies in Hamburg.

The inaugural award winner
Fana Gebresenbet Erda, a PhD candidate in a Global and European Studies programme jointly offered by the University of Leipzig (Germany) and Addis Ababa University, wrote the winning article for 2015. He will receive a three-year affiliation to the UFS Centre for Africa Studies as a Research Fellow, along with prize money of R5 000, sponsored by the UFS.

His article, The Ethiopian Developmental State in Its Peripheral Lowlands: Large-Scale Land Acquisitions, the Politics of Dispossession and State Remaking in Gambella, Western Ethiopia, argues that development through large-scale land acquisitions in Gambella, Western Ethiopia, belies a state-remaking project under a dispossessive political economy.

Submission now open
Africa Spectrum invites scholars to submit research articles in the context of the award. In October of each year a review committee selects submissions for review. Those eligible to submit are postgraduate students nearing completion of their PhD theses and postdoctoral scholars who were awarded their PhDs no more than five years earlier at the time of the submission deadline. Those submitting should be from Africa or should be affiliated to African institutions.

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