WATCH | Somizi talks racism, classism and 'fake' inclusivity at pride marches

Ed's note: An update to this article is available here and this article has also been updated to include comment from Cape Town Pride organisers.

Having attended several pride marches in both Joburg and Cape Town, media personality and LGBTQI+ activist Somizi Mhlongo-Motaung has shared his experiences and observation that these pride marches are not up to par when it comes to inclusivity.

Somizi took to his Instagram to post a 10-minute video breaking down his views on what he feels pride march organisers could do better in the future. He spoke about classism in the black community and racism in the gay community as a whole.

The Idols SA judge spoke specifically about Johannesburg and Cape Town pride marches, saying they only appear to be inclusive when, in reality, they are not inclusive at all.

“I have always had an issue with this Joburg Pride and Cape Town Pride. I've always had an issue because I find it not to be inclusive at all. From the outside, it looks inclusive because when we march there's Blacks, Indians, there's Whites but deep down there isn’t inclusivity,” said Somizi.

Somizi added, “You look at the committees that run Pride, you look at the locations that host the Pride they are where it will be suitable for white queer people to be comfortable.”

Somgaga went on to say that he has never ever heard of a pride march that catered for all citizens in the country especially in townships where the communities are predominantly black.  Somizi believes one of the reasons why the march never makes it to the townships, where they are desperately needed, may be because the organisers consider those areas unsafe and assume that people would not feel comfortable.

“What is it that we are celebrating if we are not going to be marching in places where most or the majority of homosexuals affected are at. What's the point?”

Watch the full video below:

Committee member of Cape Town Pride Matthews Van As sent a statement to TshisaLIVE in which the organisation refuted Somizi's claims.

“We, at Cape Town Pride, always strive for inclusivity. Our organising committee is a true representation of the population mix of Cape Town. We believe in accessibility through outreach with stakeholders in communities through transportation and support to get to Cape Town Pride.

“Cape Town Pride consists of more than 30 events that cater to the needs of every sector of the community and in various locations to highlight the wants and needs of those communities. The festival is only one part of a multifaceted visibility event. We are involve with iKasi Pride which services communities most in need of visibility and as such moves locations every year,” said Matthew.

TshisaLIVE also reached out to the Pride Of Africa organisation (who organise pride marches in Joburg) for comment in response to Somizi's accusations. 

However, the organisations had not responded by the time of publishing this article.

This article will be updated should TshisaLIVE receive a response.