An online video has shown that conversion therapy practices are alive in well in South Africa. The clip posted in December is from a popular church.
Warning: This story has descriptions of religious leaders and parents speaking about conversion therapy practices.
At a church gathering in Midrand, a mother brings forward her young son to tell the congregation about how religious leader David Uche has allegedly cured her son of feminine traits and what she describes as “a shrinking penis”.
Nigerian born Uche describes himself as a prophet and runs a popular church in South Africa. The video begins with the mother describing how her child would sometimes act too much “like a woman” for her linking.
The pastor warns if the child begins behaving like a girl he might turn into “someone who claims they grew up in a female body”.
Speaking in front of the church gathering, with the young boy at her side, the mother says when the child was circumcised at the age of four, they realised he was missing his left testicle. Despite doctors saying it was normal, she held concerns.
“This year he turns nine, and at the beginning of this year we started experiencing something strange.” the woman says, “He started behaving like a girl.”
“When you talk to him he screams like a girl.” she added, leading to the religious leader to launch into a mocking performance where he squeals and and waves his bands in the air while wiggling his hips.
The mother goes on to say that she is concerned that when her son is angry he is not violent, but “behaves like a woman.” She also raises concern that when he sits on the couch, he sometimes crosses his legs.
She continues, saying despite her shouting at the child and demanding that he be more masculine, he continues to be too feminine for her liking.
The pastor says her child is already “gaybrailing”; which what he defines as a way gay people speak and move. He describes the fictional condition as he contorts his body and throws his arms in the air, while making more squealing noises.
“It’s better to not have a son that a ‘gaybrail’.” he tells the woman and the surrounding congregation.
The mother goes on to share that he son recently used his lunch money to buy some pink coloured beads which were fashioned into a necklace or a bracelet.
The mother said she was also concerned that her son had a smaller penis leading to her to believe it might be shrinking, and sometimes there are stains in his underwear, and it could be part of a process of his body turning feminine.
She said that after Uche “put hands” upon her son at a recent sermon she later found the young boy shaking uncontrollably. She told the congregation she believed this reaction was the Lord “taking it out” from her son. She then claims that the ‘prophets’ actions had led to her son’s penis returning to its original size.
Throughout the whole ordeal the young boy stands between his mother and the religious leader. His face blurred out in the video that’s been viewed thousands of times.
Calls for South African government to take action on conversion therapy practices
Writing at South African LGBTIQA+ news outlet Mabma Online Human Rights activist Sikhander Coopoo discusses the video and highlights how it shows that government responses to conversion therapy must include religious settings as well as medical and psychological realms.
“Conversion practices most often happen in churches. They happen in prayer lines. They happen when religious leaders place their hands on children and tell parents that queerness is darkness, that gender nonconformity is possession, that identity is something to be pulled out.” he said.
South Africa, like Western Australia, is still waiting for government action on banning conversion therapy practices. In 2021 the Democratic Alliance announced plans to introduce a private members bill, but no legislation has ever come forward.
In his article Coopoo argues that the actions of the parent and the religious leader should be viewed differently.
“When the mother speaks, she speaks from fear, confusion, and a love distorted by social pressure. When the Prophet speaks, he speaks from power. That distinction matters.” he said.
The Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria has highlighted the extent of conversion therapy practices in Africa.
“In African society, conversion therapy takes many forms. However, it is primarily driven by members of
religious communities.” the report said citing research from Outright International.
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