I was scared': Miss SA contestant on gender reassignment surgeryShe made history as the first trans woman to make the Miss SA top 16, now Lehlogonolo Machaba celebrates her gender reassignment surgery.
by Naledi de Wee
10-08-2022 19:39
in LGBTQIA
Lehlogonolo Machaba, the first transgender woman to enter the Miss South Africa pageant, opens up about her gender reassignment surgery. Image via Twitter
Lehlogonolo Machaba made history in 2021 when she became the first transgender woman to make the top 16 at the Miss South Africa pageant. Although Machaba entered the pageant again in 2022, she only reached the top 16 stages of the pageant. Speaking to You, the 25-year-old opened up about getting gender reassignment surgery and described it as the beginning of new life .
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ALSO READ: I'm a plain Jane': Meet South Africa's oldest transgender woman
LEHLOGONOLO MACHABA'S GENDER REASSIGNMENT SURGERY Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) fashion design graduate Lehlogonolo Machaba first announced her gender reassignment surgery in an Instagram post on 18 July. Machaba gave her followers a glimpse into her rocky recovery.
The model and queer activist told You that her costs were covered by Transgender and Intersex Africa, an organisation that advocates for LGBTQI rights. Machaba finally had her first reassignment surgery on 1 July.
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They reconstructed my male genitalia to resemble and as much as possible, to perform like female genitalia, she told the publication.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Lehlogonolo Machaba (@lehlogonolo.machaba)
-- THE RECOVERY PROCESS The Miss SA top 16 contestant said she faced a few complications during her recovery process. Machaba added that it was extremely painful and as a result, had to be readmitted to the hospital.
I was a bit scared, to be honest, because in my head I had to adjust to having something different.
After surgery bed rest is essential for a minimum of two weeks. After the two weeks, there will be some healing, but it's important to take care of yourself and control how you do things. I need to carefully control how fast I walk and how I sit and sleep.
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This was the beginning of new life for me because the person I've always identified as within myself is becoming tangible .
ALSO READ: Ho rskool Rustenburg U-turns on pupil's drag show punishment
GENDER REASSIGNMENT SURGERY IN SOUTH AFRICA COST? According to IOL, transgender South Africans can expect to wait approximately 25 years to get their gender reassignment surgery. The publication further reports that the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town only performs four gender reassignment surgeries every year.
Speaking to City Press, Dr Anastacia Tomson said: In the private sector, it costs hundreds of thousands of rands while in the public sector waiting periods are often quoted as being north of two-and-a-half decades.
ALSO READ: Better kissing another man': Neil Patrick Harris on first gay sex scene
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I was scared': Miss SA contestant on gender reassignment surgeryShe made history as the first trans woman to make the Miss SA top 16, now Lehlogonolo Machaba celebrates her gender reassignment surgery. 
