LGBT rights in South Africa

==Legality of same-sex sexual activity==
On 4 August 1997, in the case of ''S v Kampher'', the [[Cape Provincial Division]] of the [[High Court of South Africa|High Court]] ruled that the common-law crime of [[sodomy law|sodomy]] was incompatible with the constitutional rights to equality and privacy, and that it had ceased to exist as an offence when the [[Interim Constitution of South Africa|Interim Constitution]] came into force on 27 April 1994. Strictly speaking, this judgment only applied to the crime of sodomy and not to the other laws criminalising sex between men, and it was also only binding precedent within the area of jurisdiction of the Cape court. On 8 May 1998, in the case of ''[[National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality v Minister of Justice]]'', the [[Witwatersrand Local Division]] of the High Court ruled that the common-law crimes of sodomy and "commission of an [[unnatural act|unnatural sexual act]]", as well as [[Section 20A]] of the ''[[Sexual Offences Act, 1957|Sexual Offences Act]]'', were unconstitutional.<ref>{{cite news |title=South African Court Ends Sodomy Laws |date=8 May 1998 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/09/world/south-african-court-ends-sodomy-laws.html |access-date=28 June 2011}}</ref> The Constitutional Court confirmed this judgment on 9 October of the same year.<ref>{{cite news |first=Donald G. |last=McNeil |title=South Africa Strikes Down Laws on Gay Sex |date=9 October 1998 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/10/world/south-africa-strikes-down-laws-on-gay-sex.html |access-date=28 June 2011}}</ref> The ruling applied retroactively to acts committed since the adoption of the Interim Constitution on 27 April 1994.<ref>{{cite news |first=Pat |last=Reber |title=South Africa Court Upholds Gay Rights |date=9 October 1998 |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.glapn.org/sodomylaws/world/south_africa/sanews003.htm |access-date=28 June 2011}}</ref>

While the ruling struck down the criminalisation of sex between men, it left untouched a separate provision contained in the''[[Sexual Offences Act, 1957|Sexual Offences Act]]'' which made it an offence for both men and women to  engage in homosexual acts with someone aged under 19. As a result, the [[age of consent]] was set at 19 for homosexual acts and 16 for heterosexual acts. This was rectified in 2007 by the ''[[Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007|Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act]]'', which codified the law on sex offences in gender and orientation neutral terms and set 16 as the uniform age of consent.<ref>{{cite news |first=Niren |last=Tolsi |date=11 January 2008 |title=Is it the kiss of death? |newspaper=[[Mail & Guardian]] |url=http://mg.co.za/article/2008-01-11-is-it-the-kiss-of-death |access-date=28 June 2011}}</ref> In 2008, even though the new law had come into effect, the former inequality was declared to be unconstitutional in the case of ''[[Geldenhuys v National Director of Public Prosecutions]]'', with the ruling again applying retroactively from 27 April 1994.<ref>{{cite news |title=Consent judgment welcomed |newspaper=[[News24 (website)|News24]] |agency=[[South African Press Association|SAPA]] |date=26 November 2008 |url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Consent-judgment-welcomed-20081126 |access-date=27 November 2011}}</ref>