Steve Letsike
Mmapaseka "Steve" Letsike is a South African human rights activist. Well known for her AIDS activism through her leadership roles within the South African National AIDS Council, Letsike is also one of the most prominent lesbian figures within the African National Congress, and has campaigned for LGBT rights in South Africa.
Activism[edit]
HIV/AIDS activism[edit]
Letsike was the deputy chair of the South African National AIDS Council, and served as the chair of its National Society Forum, implementing policies at a grassroots and local level.[1] For several years, Letsike served as deputy to Cyril Ramaphosa, who went on to become the President of South Africa.[2] Through her role with SANAC, Letsike called on increased psychosocial support, in addition to antiretroviral programmes, for people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.[3]
In 2015, Letsike represented South Africa at the launch of the DREAMS Partnership, aiming to secure an AIDS-free future for women in sub-Saharan Africa.[4]
In 2021, Ramaphosa named Letsike to the Chief Justice Panel, to interview shortlisted candidates and to decide who to replace Mogoeng Mogoeng at the end of his term as Chief Justice of South Africa.[5]
LGBT activism[edit]
As a teenager, Letsike successfully challenged her high school's uniform policy, which had prohibited girls from wearing trousers. She also established its first female football team.[2][6][7] As an adult, Letsike worked for various organisations, including Anova Health Institute, which provided sexual health services to men who had sex with men in Gauteng, Mpamalanga, North West, Limpopo, and Western Cape.[8]
Letsike went on to establish Access Chapter 2, a non-governmental organisation that raised awareness of intersectional issues facing South Africa's marginalised communities, including black people, women, children, and the LGBT community. AC2 was named after South Africa's Bill of Rights.[2]
Following the murders of several lesbians in 2011, including Noxolo Nogwaza, the government of South Africa established the National Task Team to investigate the increase in LGBT hate crimes in the country, with Letsike named as co-chair.[6][9] In 2014, she wrote an open letter to African leaders following the passing of the Anti-Homosexuality Act by the government of Uganda.[10]
In 2021, Letsike was named the chair of the Commonwealth Equality Network, an organisation representing civil society organisations working for LGBT rights across the Commonwealth.[11][7]
In 2023, Letsike was widely tipped as being likely to be elected to the ANC's National Executive Committee; when she did not secure a nomination for any of the 87 available seats, the party's Embrace Diversity Political Movement criticised her exclusion and the failure to elect any LGBT people to the NEC.[12] In January 2024, the NEC's General Secretary, Fikile Mbalula, named Letsike as among four new people apponted to the NEC to bring "more balanced representation" to the ANC's decision-making body. She became the second openly LGBT person to sit on the NEC, after Lynne Brown.[13]
Personal life[edit]
Letsike was born and raised in Atteridgeville, Gauteng, South Africa. Letsike's parents both died when she was young, and she was subsequently raised by her grandparents.[2][7]
In 2018, Letsike married her long-term partner, Lucy Thukwane.[14] She has a daughter.[2]
References[edit]
- ^ Ngcaweni, Busani, ed. (2017). Sizonqoba! outliving AIDS in Southern Africa. Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa. ISBN 978-0-7983-0499-3. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "LGBT History Month — October 20: Steve Letsike". Qnotes Carolinas. 20 October 2018. Archived from the original on 13 September 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ^ October, Alicestine; Voigt, Elri (21 June 2023). "Sobering moments at opening of SA AIDS Conference". Spotlight. Archived from the original on 23 January 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ^ "DREAMS initiative for adolescent girls and young women in South Africa". Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. 17 November 2015. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ^ Igual, Roberto (18 September 2021). "LGBTIQ+ leader Steve Letsike included on Chief Justice Panel". MambaOnline. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ^ a b Rakhetsi, Aaron (30 June 2021). "10 Amazing African LGBTQ+ Activists You Need to Know". Global Citizen. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ^ a b c Staples, Louis (8 January 2020). "Inside the fight for LGBT+ rights across the Commonwealth". The Independent. Archived from the original on 16 May 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ^ "Q and A Feature with Mmapaseka "Steve" Letsike". Sonke Gender Justice. 24 June 2013. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ^ Fletcher, James (6 April 2016). "Born free, killed by hate - the price of being gay in South Africa". BBC News. Archived from the original on 16 August 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ^ "Read Dr Steve Letsike's open letter to African leaders after Uganda outlawed homosexuality". Sonke Gender Justice. 28 February 2014. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ^ "SANAC CONGRATULATES STEVE LETSIKE FOR APPOINTMENT AS CHAIR OF THE COMMONWEALTH EQUALITY NETWORK". South African National AIDS Council. 14 December 2021. Archived from the original on 21 September 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ^ Igual, Roberto (22 December 2022). "Anger as ANC snubs LGBTIQ+ community in NEC election". MambaOnline. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ^ Igual, Roberto (31 January 2023). "ANC NEC finally has an LGBTIQ+ voice in Steve Letsike". MambaOnline. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ^ "Steve Letsike weds Lucy Thukwane". SowetanLIVE. 2 May 2018. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2024.