Call me names but gay is not okay.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) last November overturned a High Court judgment which had previously found Qwelane guilty of hate speech and threw out a challenge he launched to section 10 of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (PEPUDA), under which Qwelane was originally charged.
The appellate court found the section in question was vague, giving Parliament 18 months to remedy the defects and ordering that in the interim PEPUDA read:
“No person may advocate hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion or sexual orientation that constitutes incitement to cause harm.”
Qwelane’s death was confirmed by his attorney Andrew Boerner earlier on Thursday.
He made his mark as a print journalist and worked as a reporter for The Star and Sunday Star, for which he also wrote columns. He produced op-ed pieces and had two regular columns in the 1990s: Jon’s Jive, which appeared on Saturdays, and Just Jon on Sundays.
Qwelane was a founder member of the Writers Association of SA and was the recipient of the SA National Editors Forum coveted Nat Nakasa Award in 1998.
He was appointed as South Africa’s ambassador to Uganda in 2010.
His family has asked for privacy during this difficult time.