Guest: Elijah Mhlanga – Spokesperson for the department of Basic Education

Guest: Sheikh Abdul Qadir Mandla Nkosi - Leader from the Gauteng Muslim Shura Council, he an Islamic Scholar and community leader

Guest: Ms Daniela Gennrich, Coordinator of the We Will Speak Out Coalition, which is hosting the Secretariat of 2 wider bodies-  a national Collective called Faith Action to End GBV and a Global movement for Gender Justice called Side by Side.

Guest: Easton Zinhumwe- Hebrew Israelite and Evangelist

For the past week or so, media outlets have reported on a document outlining the Department of Basic Education’s guidelines for gender inclusivity, proposes giving gender non-conforming students a place in South African schools. This document they said, proposes unisex toilets as schools, as well as gender neutral uniform colours, to allow gender non-conforming students options in the way they dress.

According to a statement by Department of Basic Education, it stated that they were disappointed in the reports as they where based on an initial draft discussion document which has since evolved following consultation before it is published for public comment.

For those who may it have a clear understanding of what it actually is, a Unisex public toilets (also referred to as gender-inclusive, gender-neutral, mixed-sex or all-gender, or without any prefix at all) are public toilets that are not separated by gender or sex.

Unisex public toilets take different forms. They may be single occupancy facilities where only one single room or enclosure is provided, or multi-user facilities which are open to all and where users may either share sinks in an open area or each have their own sink in their private cubicle, stall or room.

This evening, we firstly get response from the department about their position on this. What exactly what the document/s outlining?

Then…

We get in conversation with different faiths on the is position on unisex toilets, whether there is scriptural support and whether such would be practical for the South African society.

Objective:

-To get response from DBE on that they are actually saying, their position, and response to the news reports

-Get from a religious perspective, what different faith’s position is on this