“They Burned Him”: A Community’s Grief and Fury After the Brutal Killing of a Gay Teen

A Night of Unimaginable Cruelty in Khayelitsha

The details are as brutal as they are heartbreaking. On a Wednesday night in Khayelitsha, 16-year-old Kwakhanya Mhlanganisi left his home to look for his sister. He never returned. What followed, according to his family and community, was a sustained attack of horrific violence, allegedly fueled by homophobic hate, that ended with the teenager being beaten unconscious, set alight, and left to burn.

On Monday, a crowd gathered outside the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court, their grief sharpened into a demand for justice. Their presence was a response not just to a murder, but to a pattern of violence targeting LGBTQ+ individuals in the township. A 17-year-old boy, whose name is withheld, appeared in court charged with the murder. The National Prosecuting Authority has confirmed it will oppose his release.

“They Said, ‘Here’s This B***h'”

Recounting the community’s testimony, Kwakhanya’s aunt, Nontombi Mthegeni, painted a chilling picture. She said witnesses told her Kwakhanya was confronted by a group of teenagers who targeted him with homophobic slurs. “They said, ‘Here’s this b***h’ and wanted to take his drink by force,” Mthegeni recounted.

A fight ensued where Kwakhanya defended himself. But later, the teenagers allegedly chased him through the informal settlement. “They hit him with bricks until he fainted. They hit him more after he fainted,” his aunt stated. The final, unspeakable act was to pour a flammable substance on him and set him alight.

A Community’s Pain and a Clear Message

For local LGBTQ+ activists, the motive is tragically clear. Sibusiso Nqunqeka of the Khulani Khayelitsha Queer Hub was at the court vigil. “Kwakhanya was killed because he is gay, because he is in the LGBTQI community,” he said, framing the murder as part of a dangerous epidemic of intolerance.

The family is left with agonizing questions. “Maybe they killed him because he was gay… We don’t know what happened,” Mthegeni said, her words echoing the confusion and trauma that follows such a senseless loss.

The case has been postponed to 10 December for a bail application, where the state will argue the accused should remain in custody. For the mourning community of Khayelitsha, the court process is just the beginning. They are demanding more than a single conviction; they are demanding a societal reckoninga future where a teenager can walk the streets without fear of being killed for who he is. The memory of Kwakhanya Mhlanganisi, beaten and burned, now fuels a cry for safety that can no longer be ignored.

{Source: IOL}

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