Dear Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation,

I am writing to you regarding the anti-gay bill currently being reconsidered by the Ugandan parliament, and would like to know what our government is doing to dissuade President Museveni from signing it into law. As a country that knows the pain and damage caused by human rights abuses, South Africa cannot stand by while the Ugandan government criminalises something that cannot ever be regarded as criminal. Sexual orientation is a matter of choice as much as skin colour is. Given that our foreign policy is guided by our Constitution and the Bill of Human Rights, DIRCO is obligated to engage with the Ugandan government on this matter.

I urge you, as a body representing all South Africans, to take this matter seriously.

Thank you
Charmain Lines
Johannesburg