Zuma slammed for stance on gay rights

BY respecting Uganda’s anti-gay laws, President Jacob Zuma was defecating on what was renowned as Nelson Mandela’s constitution, human rights activist and lawyer Melanie Nathan said yesterday.

The Port Elizabeth-born activist blasted Zuma for the stance South Africa has taken on the Uganda law after he said South Africa respected the sovereign right of other countries to adopt their own legislation.

Zuma was replying to a parliamentary question from the DA’s Lindiwe Mazibuko.

Yesterday, the DA expressed outrage at Zuma’s failure to condemn Uganda’s anti-gay legislation.

“This is an insult to our constitution and to [former] President Mandela’s human rights inspired foreign policy,” Mazibuko said.

Speaking at a gay rights dialogue at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University yesterday, Nathan said the president was forgetting about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and why it was in place.