The LGBTQA+ Champion Profile : Zakhele Njabulo Mbhele, Politician

It is not very often that we hear of South African politicians who are openly gay. If you follow our social media platforms, then you might be aware of how passionate we are about the representation of the South African queer community in the decision-making structures. We were doing an online research about the country's queer activists, and we came across the name Zakhele Njabulo Mbhele along other names. This gentleman is actually active in politics and not just active, but he is right up there in his political career. So, we thought perhaps it would be a good fit to profile him on this International Pride Month. And we are doing so to spread some sense of proudness in our community and at the same time, we want people to be infected by his spirit as we need plenty of people like him out there. 

Mbhele is relatively young being born on 9 Nov. 1984 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. From what we have gathered from a handful of articles written about him online, we quickly learnt that, he got involved in politics at a tender age. To be specific, he joined the Democratic Alliance (DA), a white dominated South African political party in 2005 when he contested for the Student Representative Council position at Wits University. The sources consulted never revealed whether Mbhele won the election or not but looking at his social media profiles, there is no mention of that position. So, it is safe to conclude that he actually never won the election. 

We also discovered that the first openly black gay South African MP, served in the Wits University's campus LGBTQA+  organization called ACTIVATE. This proves that he was actually very comfortable in his sexuality at a young age. And this is not prevalent for black gay South Africans because of the societies that we grow up in. They very conservative and even if they know that you are a homosexuals, they would never admit it to you and this is evident when they keep trying to pursued someone to get a girlfriend or perhaps tell them straight up that, being gay is just not cool. So, this proves that he was brave as a young person. And this could also mean that, he grew up in a community that is not that bothered with homosexuality and that his parents were supportive of him. 

Mbhele was a member of a board for the Joburg Pride organization. So, as the politician he is quite clued up on the matters affecting the South African LGBTQA+ community. But though to be fair, there is absolutely nothing that showed work done to better the community. There is no bills, and not even comments on issues we consider important in the community. Unfortunately, this is the norm in South Africa. We have individuals who are very famous that are 'part' of the community with massive followers on their social media platforms but, it would seem that, they just do not want anything that associates them with homosexuality. They have answered the call by many South African homophobes who will only accept us if we stay under the bed and hide from the general public. This is not effective for the community as we are treated as if we do not exist. Yes, there are laws in place that protest us from harm, but there is still a lot that we would like to see change. And if people like Zakhele won't take a firm stand and champion our aspirations when they get at the top, then that's it for us. We will always feel like second class citizens. 

As we have already mentioned that he joined the DA in 2005, he has been with the party ever since then and has made quite a progress within the party in terms of growth. From what we understand, currently holds a position of DA Shadow Minister of Police since the year 2016. This is important because that means he can have an influence on policy matters that concerns the South African Police Service (SAPS). Police in the country are often accused of being ignorant and homophobic towards the members when conducting their crime related matters. So, this could be a win for the community if he considers our plight when raising matters of importance when deliberating on policy matters. We also know that, he is a member of Portfolio Committee on Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation as an MP. So, this demonstrates that the guy is heading for the top leadership.

We also noted that he was Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young  South Africans in 2010 for his civil society work. And he was one of the writers of the most recognized South African gay online publication called Mambaonine.com. He has written opinion articles for quite a number of the country's top news agencies including Business Live, Eyewitness News, Daily Maverick, News24 and plenty others. 

He is representing the community well out there and we truly appreciate this as it works in our favor in terms of demystifying a number of myths about our community members. But we also urge him to note the community on when discussing policies.