Gay Guy Goes Missing In Joburg
What the hell is going on? Gay men are being murdered like flies and nobody seems to be doing anything about it. Instead you have leaders making erroneous statement like "gays are rotten".
Given the recent murders, fears are growing that a young gay guy might fall victim to the same fate.
A gay man from Bloemfontein has been reported missing after pursuing an internet relationship in Joburg.
Thebe Mogamisi met a potential love interest online late last year, and travelled from to Joburg to meet “Sipho” on New Year’s Eve.
His aunt, Dikeledi Mokatong, last heard from Mogamisi on December 31, when he said he would finally be meeting his new friend in person.
Calls to his phone number go straight to voice mail and his online profiles have been inactive.
“I can’t sleep at night, I’m so worried. Thebe is not the kind of person who would stay quiet for so long,” said Mokatong. “We just pray nothing bad has happened to him.”
A missing person’s case has been opened at the Park Road police station in Bloemfontein.
Last year, The Star exposed seven murders of gay men in the greater Joburg area, all found strangled in their homes.
In each case, it appeared the men had met their killers either online or through cellphone chatrooms. The murderer or murderers would then be invited into their victim’s home, killing their host and then fleeing the scene. Theft was ruled out as a motive as very little was taken from each of the crime scenes.
Police said last year the cases were not linked, which could mean at least seven murderers have yet to be brought to justice.
The gay community in Joburg is up in arms over the murder last month of ex-TV presenter and HIV activist Jason Wessenaar. His was the seventh gay murder in Joburg.
Wessenaar was stabbed in the neck seven times during a struggle with his killer – he is also reported to have met him online and invited him to the home where he was staying.
Friends and family of the activist have expressed extreme dissatisfaction at the police investigation.
One of Wessenaar’s closest friends, Yvette Raphael, is the founder of the Justice for Jason campaign, which called on the public to send e-mails to “the minister of safety and security, the Gauteng commissioner of police and other leaders of the government to ensure Jason’s killers are brought to justice”.
The seven murders began with Manolis Veloudos, in April 2010. It was followed last year by Jim Cathels, Oscar O’Hara, 33, Siphiwe Selby Nhlapo, 36, a 47-year-old unnamed landlord and Barney van Heerden, 39, and then Wessenaar.
*http://www.gnpplus.net/images/stories/newsreleases/2012_Demand_Justice_for_Jason.pdf”Anyone who has seen Thebe Mogamisi, can contact shain.germaner@inl.co.za or the Park Road police station in Bloemfontein on 051 507 6000. - The Star
This is really unsettling given the fact that the police have thus far done very little if anything at all in solving any of these cases.
If you know where Thebe is inform the relevant authorities.
3 comments:
This is shocking! And to think that the police are dragging their feet on all these cases is even worse!! I don't get this, it seems to me this whole thing is about homophobic. Guess what gays are also people too dammit. They contribute as much to the society as any other straight person does.
You know in cases like these I actually prefer countries that downright oppose homosexuality because at least there you know where you stand.
Whats with this hypocrisy?!
Thanks Phil! Let's hope Thebe is on a side journey and just has not let anyone know. However, with the printed information, seems unlikely. Understandbly the police are ovewhelmed with many cases and underwhelmed with resources, however it does seem past due for a task force to close loose ends, snyc common elements and most importantly to let ALL of the families/friends/colleagues know where they are in these cases.
Until when are gay men going to realize that this whole thing of meeting people from dating sites is not safe? This is just too sad.
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