UWC joins Cape Town Pride to demand equity and community for LGBTQIA+ individuals

The University of the Western Cape’s Queer Dubs LGBTQIA+ Forum joined thousands of marchers in Cape Town for Cape Town Pride 2026, framing its participation as both celebration and political action.

Under the theme “UmuNtu ngumuNtu ngabaNtu, Belonging is Political: Power, Equity, and Community @UWC”, the forum positioned this year’s march as a continuation of the university’s legacy as the so-called “Bush University” — historically associated with resistance to exclusion and apartheid-era injustice.

Supported by UWC Rector and Vice-Chancellor Prof Robert Balfour, members said pride must go beyond symbolism.

“For us, pride is more than a parade; it is a political demand,” the forum said, arguing that belonging should be understood as an active distribution of power rather than a passive sense of comfort.

Participants challenged what they described as rigid norms within academic and social institutions, calling for greater recognition of gender diversity and the lived realities of non-binary and transgender individuals across university policies, curricula, administrative systems and residences.

The group emphasised that while South Africa’s Constitution protects equality on the basis of sexual orientation, legal guarantees do not automatically translate into safety and dignity for all.

They also linked queer liberation to broader socio-economic struggles, noting that race and class continue to shape visibility, vulnerability and access in post-apartheid South Africa.

“In South Africa, the legacy of apartheid continues to shape who has the right to be queer in public,” the forum said, highlighting the compounded challenges faced by working-class queer students and staff in accessing healthcare, housing and economic security.

Dr Fikile Vilakazi, Director of the Gender Equity Unit and chairperson of Queer Dubs, said freedom must be collective.

“We are not free until every student and staff member, regardless of their gender expression, sexual orientation and gender identity or bank balance, can walk these halls with the absolute certainty that they belong. SingaBaNtu, we cannot be free, without each other’s freedom,” Vilakazi said.

The forum called on the broader university community and the city to move beyond tolerance toward what it described as a radical, communal justice rooted in equity and lived belonging.

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Cape Argus