Another gay man murdered in South Africa
Lazarus Ikaneng Thomas, a 50-year-old gay man from Galeshewe in Northern Cape province has become South Africa’s latest victim of homophobic violence.
The province’s Department of Social Development, Youth, Women, People Living with Disabilities, Sports, Arts, and Culture said authorities discovered Thomas’s decomposing body in a home on Sept.
7 after neighbors complained of a foul smell. Thomas, who was buried at Kimberly’s Phutanang Cemetery last Friday, was reportedly strangled and had acid poured on his body.
Nontobeko Vilakazi, a member of the Department of Social Development, Youth, Women, People Living with Disabilities, Sports, Arts, and Culture’s Executive Council in the Northern Cape province, said Thomas’s murder left her shaken, especially when she saw pictures of his decomposed hand lying on the ground. “I would firstly want to offer my condolences to the bereaved family,” said Vilakazi. “This tragic incident should never have transpired.
