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A BULAWAYO hairdresser who is suspected to have been running an illegal salon in the city’s Pumula East suburb is reportedly in trouble after ignoring summons from the police to answer a number of allegations leveled against her.
Ms Nomusa Dube, was reported to the police by her estranged boyfriend- Mr Busani Xabaxa who claimed that the two were customarily married on allegations that her salon had become a haven for members of the LGBTIQ community.
Mr Xabaxa has also alleged that Ms Dube is involved in a lesbian affair with one Miss Thandeka Mdluli.
Sources close to the issue note that Miss Mdluli, who is a known lesbian, was acting as the marketing officer for the illegal salon and would use her connections within the LGBTIQ community to direct homosexual clients to the salon.
“The set up was such that Thandeka was the marketing person and would direct members of the LGBTIQ community to the salon, knowing that there was no salon in the city that was particularly meant for them, as they were constantly stereotyped in other salons.
“However, this did not sit down well with the Pumula East community and Busani, who now felt that even Nomusa was now a Lesbian. Tempers flared when at one point Busani caught Nomusa and Thandeka having lunch at a restaurant in town and he even attacked her, accusing her of cheating on him,” said a source close to the couple.
It is further alleged that at one point, Ms Dube was arrested and was detained in police custody for promoting Lesbian rights, operating an illegal salon and also being a public nuisance.
“To add to her woes she was also allegedly kidnapped by unknown individuals who claimed they had been sent by her boyfriend, Busani who felt cheated on worse by a lesbian,” said the source.
Police sources revealed that Ms Dube had attempted to make a police report with Beitbridge police where she had made the kidnapping allegations.
“It was as she made the kidnapping allegations in Beitbridge where it was discovered that she was also wanted for questioning in Bulawayo for the three crimes of promoting lesbian rights, operating an illegal salon as well as being a public nuisance, that is when a summons was served to her place of residence which she did not honour,” said the police source.
Zimbabwe is one of the least accepting countries in the world for gay, lesbian and transgender people. A 2006 revision to the country’s criminal code expanded the penalty for sodomy to include acts that “would be regarded by a reasonable person as an indecent act”.
This could include two men holding hands or hugging, and it can be punished by an extended prison term.
The current Zimbabwe Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act makes specific sexual acts illegal, but falls short of criminalising LGBTI status.
According to popular belief, however, homosexuality is a crime. An uninformed media exacerbates this attitude. Homophobic statements by government leaders contribute to a misinformed, highly discriminatory socio-political environment.
Zimbabwe is no exception.
Homosexuality is outlawed in 35 African countries and punishable by death in two countries, Mauritania and Sudan, as well as in some areas of Somalia and Nigeria, according to Amnesty International.
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