Open Letter: Netball South Africa must bar Uganda from Netball World CupMpho Buntse argues that allowing Uganda to participate in the upcoming Netball World Cup would be an implicit endorsement to its policies.by Mambaonline.com
03-05-2023 13:05
in LGBTQIA
Open Letter: Netball South Africa must bar Uganda from Netball World Cup. Photo: Mambaonline
In an open letter to Netball South Africa, Mpho Buntse argues that allowing Uganda to participate in the upcoming Netball World Cup in Cape Town (28 July - 6 August) would be an implicit endorsement of that country's anti-LGBTIQ policies.
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Dear Netball South Africa,
As the countdown to the Netball World Cup that you are hosting this July and August continues, I am writing to you to express my concern about Uganda's participation in the event.
ALSO READ: Despair as Uganda passes Anti-Homosexuality Bill again
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While Uganda's netball team is ranked eighth in the world and second on the continent, the Ugandan government is deliberately stripping its citizens of their human rights.
The escalating persecution of LGBTQIA people in Uganda calls upon all of us to get off our spectator chairs and proactively do something to provide solidarity to the Ugandan LGBTQIA community.
It is embarrassing that the president of Netball SA, Cecilia Molokwane, is humbled and filled with extreme joy by the fact that Uganda's games are selling out ahead of the spectacle.
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Molokwane and her Netball SA collective seem to be ignorant of the geopolitical issues of the day. If they were not, they would be privy to our current struggle and solidarity efforts with the abuse and disregard of human rights in Uganda, which could potentially lead to loss of lives.
ALSO READ: Uganda: Anti-Homosexuality Bill must allow for gay conversion therapy
I appeal to Netball SA's sense of logic and reasoning. At a time when the world is looking for solutions that will see Uganda drop this law, you can potentially add to the much-needed pressure meant to agitate President Yoweri Museveni to use his veto power not to sign this bill into law.
The matter of Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill is currently a subject of international scrutiny and cause for concern for many sovereign governments, diplomatic communities, as well as global corporates.
This pushback is mainly influenced by the urgency to get Uganda's government to drop this draconian law. The bill approved by Uganda has far-reaching impacts on the safety of the LGBTQIA community in that country and seems to show a ripple effect to influence similar legal reforms in other conservative African countries, as we have seen with the case in the Kenyan parliament.
We are already receiving overwhelming reports of violence, torture, evictions and ill-treatment, wholly because of the recent passing of this repressive bill by parliament. Perhaps we also need to interrogate Uganda's deliberate disregard of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which they are a signatory under their United Nations membership.
ALSO READ: Uganda: Anti-Homosexuality Bill sent back to parliament
In the context of the African Union, President Museveni is bound by various treaties, including the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, which guarantees the principles of equality and non-discrimination before the law.
It further guarantees the right to life, dignity, and physical integrity, protects people from cruelty, degrading or inhuman treatment or punishment, as well as the right to a fair trial before any court.
Furthermore, the government of Uganda is in contravention of the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women.
Under this protocol, also known as the Maputo Protocol, countries are expected to develop measures geared towards combatting violence against women irrespective of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Finally, Uganda is deliberately disregarding the 2014 adoption of Resolution 275 of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights.
The resolution clearly expresses grave concerns about the increasing violence and other human rights violations, among which is noted murder, rape, or assault based on a person's real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
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I am writing to urge you to bar Uganda from participating in the upcoming netball spectacle. This is not a difficult plea, as other federations have taken similar action in defence of human rights in the past.
One historic case in point is South Africa's banning from the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, a decision imposed by the International Olympic Committee due to South Africa's apartheid policy at the time.
This reality, coupled with the subsequent expulsion of the South African Olympic Committee in 1970, provides important lessons on how not to be a spectator in the face of human rights violations.
In recent times, we saw Russia's exclusion from taking part in the last Olympics by the International Association of Athletics Federations.
The IAAF was justified in barring Russia on the grounds of the humanitarian crisis and their continuing aggression against Ukraine. ALSO READ: Global scientists tell Uganda: Homosexuality is natural and normal
Netball SA will be judged harshly by history should it allow the Ugandan team to enter our shores. I am strongly opposed to the idea of neutrality in matters that cut across societal intersections. You cannot be neutral when lives are at stake.
It is increasingly important for sporting federations to pay attention to humanitarian and human rights considerations, as opposed to protecting public relations and so-called neutrality.
Sports are competitive in nature, mired by hate, jealousy, and boasting at the level of both spectators and t
