South Africa's National Assembly has passed the Civil Union Bill after months of often heated public discussion, with opponents of the measure that effectively allows same-sex marriages labelling it 'unAfrican', writes E-Brief News.

It now has to be approved by Parliament's second house, the National Council of Provinces, which is expected to be a formality, before being signed into law by President Thabo Mbeki on December 1. The Bill provides for the 'voluntary union of two persons, which is solemnised and registered by either a marriage or civil union.' The measure is unlikely to win support in rest of the continent, which remains one of the most homophobic places in the world, says Alex Duval Smith in The Independent (UK).

Almost anywhere on the continent, any flirting with sexual boundaries is deeply taboo, Smith writes. The debate that followed in the South African media has not so much centred on the old arguments that homosexuality is an 'abomination' brought to Africa by the colonisers. Guardians of tradition argue that the real problem presented by the new South African law is that it is going to be difficult for African families to adapt their traditional rituals to their new gay and lesbian in-laws. Spiritual healer Nokuzola Mndende, who is the director of the Icamagu Institute, said, 'There's the issue of lobolo (dowry). Normally the man pays it. In this case, who is going to pay?'

Other traditional leaders are baulking at giving communal land to g ay couples, even though they will be legally married in terms of the Bill. A high-level meeting to discuss the Bill and its ramifications has been called for December 9, says a report in The Weekender, which notes that if traditional leaders do not give communal land to couples based on their sexual orientation, the matter may end up in the Constitutional Court as it can be interpreted as a human rights violation. Congress of Traditional Leaders of SA President Patekile Holomisa said although no final decision had been taken on whether same-s ex couples would be given land, it was unlikely because traditional leaders did not accept gay marriages.

But activists say homosexuality and gender-bending is as old as Africa, according to Duval Smith. They say that what came with the colonisers was homophobia in the shape of morally charged legislation. Historians say that in ancient traditional communities homosexuality - which in the Shona language of Zimbabwe has a name, ngochani - was widespread and acceptable. Men who wished to adopt traditional female roles and who found male partners were not frowned upon because they did not represent a threat to other men. Before the vote in South Africa's Parliament, the Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said the Civil Unions Bill marked another step in the country's rejection of its brutal past. 'The challenge that we continue to face has to do with the fact that when we attained our democracy we sought to distinguish ourselves from an unjust painful past, by declaring that never again shall it be that any South African will be discriminated against on the basis of colour, creed, culture and sex.'

Religion, too, has played a significant role. African archbishops, especially Nigeria's Peter Akinola who has 17 million Anglicans in his flock, have led the schism in Kenya. Tanzania and Uganda have followed suit. Critics of the South African Bill point out that its fatal flaw is that religious leaders may still, on grounds of 'conscience, religion and belief' refuse to officiate at same-sex weddings.

Civil society organisations have also got in on the act. In Uganda, says a report on the allAfrica.com site, the chairman of the Political Parties platform, Emmanuel Tumusiime, said the move would create a cultural and economic clash on the continent. Tumusiime, Pastor Martin Sempa, and the People's Development Party chief, Abed Bwanika, went to the South African High Commission offices to present their protest. He told First Secretary for Political Affairs, Adriaan Du Pisanie: 'We feel betrayed by the SA Government. Homosexuality is evil and against humanity. It is sad that they have decided to pay Africa back in that form after helping them out during apartheid.' Sempa added: 'If no action is taken, we shall organise a cultural and economic embargo against South Africa.'

Duval Smith illustrates his point with a roundup of homosexuality laws around Africa: In Zimbabwe male homosexuality is illegal and President Robert Mugabe has pursued a 'moral campaign' against homosexuals. He has said being gay is a 'white disease'. 'Unnatural sex acts' carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. In Ghana male homosexual activity is illegal. Gay men can be punished under provisions concerning assault and rape, if 'in public or with a minor'. In Ethiopia the law prohibits homosexual acts by both sexes, with a penalty of up to three years in prison. This may be increased by five or more years when the offender 'makes a profession of such activities'. In Kenya, homosexual behaviour is banned between men. The penalty is five to 14 years' imprisonment. Lesbian relations are not prohibited. In Egypt there are no laws against homosexuality, but it has started to become illegal de facto under various laws such as 'offences against public morals' and 'violating the teachings of religion'. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni last year changed the Constitution to introduce a ban on same-sex marriage. Nigeria enforces powerful anti-homosexual laws including five years' jail for consenting sex without the option of a fine - the Federal Executive Council also approved a Bill in January seeking to outlaw gay marriage. In Cameroon, 11 men are in prison on the basis of their presumed sexual orientation after nine of them were found guilty of sodomy and jailed.
Full report in The Independent
Full report in The Weekender
Full report on the allAfrica.com site