Former president Thabo Mbeki. Photo: Masi Losi Former president Thabo Mbeki. Photo: Masi Losi
Former president Thabo Mbeki has hit out at Uganda’s controversial anti-gay bill, while King Goodwill Zwelithini has been reported as saying homosexuals are “rotten”.
Mbeki was asked about Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill after speaking at Makerere University in Kampala last week.
Kampala’s Daily Monitor quoted him as saying in reply: “Sexual preferences are a private matter. I don’t think it is a matter of the state to intervene.”
He said the bill was like the apartheid government’s Immorality Act, which prohibited sexual relations “across the colour line”.
Meanwhile, the Zulu royal household denied that the king referred to gays as “rotten” during a speech on Sunday.
He was quoted by The Times as saying: “Traditionally, there were no people who engaged in same-sex relationships. There was nothing like that, and if you do it, you must know that you are rotten. Same sex is not acceptable.”
Prince Mbonisi Zulu said the paper had incorrectly translated the king’s speech from Zulu.
“He said nowadays you even have men who rape other men. This was a clear sign of moral decay, and he condemned those involved, no matter who they were.” - The Star