IMAGINE if the world had looked the other way when black South Africans were being discriminated against on the basis of something they had no control over and was in any event irrelevant — the colour of their skin.
Now imagine the logical contortion the government of a democratic South Africa must have had to undergo to decide that the appropriate response to the harsh anti-gay bill signed into law by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Monday is to say nothing.
The law is every bit as odious as anything served up by apartheid, punishing anyone convicted of having gay sex with jail terms that could extend to life, and making it a crime to advocate homosexuality or to fail to report those who break the law.
How short our memories are, and how cynical are our elected leaders. What happened to all those lofty ideals of equality and basic human rights? Is jailing people for having consensual sex with someone of the same gender not as much a "crime against humanity" as apartheid was? Given its history, why is South Africa not leading the call for sanctions and a sports boycott?
If only the African National Congress government was as morally consistent as Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who tried hard to persuade Mr Museveni to reconsider and strongly condemned the new law this week.
Nor can corporate South Africa be allowed to remain under the radar on this. As reported elsewhere in Thursday’s edition, a number of South African companies are now active in Uganda. Are they content to extract profits from a country that jails gays simply for being gay? Are their shareholders prepared to look the other way? And their customers?
Mr Museveni is unrepentant, despite having assured Archbishop Tutu that he would seek "scientific advice" before signing the bill into law. It would be fascinating to know which "scientists" he consulted, and whether the internet was his medium of choice. There will be bad consequences for Uganda.
Already a local newspaper has published a list of what it called the country’s "200 top homosexuals", outing a number of prominent Ugandans. A similar list published by a now defunct tabloid in 2011 resulted in one of those named being killed. And the US has warned that the move could "complicate" its relationship with Uganda, which receives $400m in annual aid.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signs an anti-homosexual bill into law at the state house in Entebbe, 36km southwest of the capital Kampala, on Monday. Picture: REUTERS
IMAGINE if the world had looked the other way when black South Africans were being discriminated against on the basis of something they had no control over and was in any event irrelevant — the colour of their skin.
Now imagine the logical contortion the government of a democratic South Africa must have had to undergo to decide that the appropriate response to the harsh anti-gay bill signed into law by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Monday is to say nothing.
The law is every bit as odious as anything served up by apartheid, punishing anyone convicted of having gay sex with jail terms that could extend to life, and making it a crime to advocate homosexuality or to fail to report those who break the law.
How short our memories are, and how cynical are our elected leaders. What happened to all those lofty ideals of equality and basic human rights? Is jailing people for having consensual sex with someone of the same gender not as much a "crime against humanity" as apartheid was? Given its history, why is South Africa not leading the call for sanctions and a sports boycott?
If only the African National Congress government was as morally consistent as Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who tried hard to persuade Mr Museveni to reconsider and strongly condemned the new law this week.
Nor can corporate South Africa be allowed to remain under the radar on this. As reported elsewhere in Thursday’s edition, a number of South African companies are now active in Uganda. Are they content to extract profits from a country that jails gays simply for being gay? Are their shareholders prepared to look the other way? And their customers?
Mr Museveni is unrepentant, despite having assured Archbishop Tutu that he would seek "scientific advice" before signing the bill into law. It would be fascinating to know which "scientists" he consulted, and whether the internet was his medium of choice. There will be bad consequences for Uganda.
Already a local newspaper has published a list of what it called the country’s "200 top homosexuals", outing a number of prominent Ugandans. A similar list published by a now defunct tabloid in 2011 resulted in one of those named being killed. And the US has warned that the move could "complicate" its relationship with Uganda, which receives $400m in annual aid.
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