Johannesburg will host the 2010 World Cup final
Members of South Africa’s only lesbian football team have spoken to BBC reporter Andrew Harding of their battle to combat homophobia.
From BBC News
Tumi Mkhuma is showing me her photo album in the small room she rents in a tough neighbourhood on the eastern outskirts of Johannesburg.
"That's me when I was 11 - wearing trousers of course," she says. "I knew I was gay even as a young child."
Tumi has only had sex with a man once. That was last year, when she was dragged from a bar, beaten unconscious, and then raped. "A month later I got morning sickness - that's how I found out he raped me," she says.
To be poor, and black, and a lesbian in South Africa is to live in danger. "Corrective rapes", beatings and murders are disturbingly common in conservative communities where homophobia remains deeply entrenched.
Last week I was shown the ditch where the body of Eudy Simelane was thrown. She was South Africa's most high-profile victim - an openly gay, former star of the national women's football team.
Her friend, MJ, said Eudy had been raped, tortured and stabbed in 2008. "Homophobia is rising, really rising," she said. "I've been through a lot in this community. I even have wounds in my body from being attacked for being lesbian."
"Chosen Few... Chosen Few... Chosen Few." A dozen women are shouting out the name of their football team on a scrap of wasteland just north of Johannesburg's city centre.
Tumi is leading the chant. She's now the striker and obvious star of South Africa's only openly lesbian team.
"We're all lesbians so I feel like I'm with my family. They always put a smile on my face," says Tumi, breaking off from a twice-weekly practice session. "In township teams lesbians are not allowed."
We talk about the World Cup. The women have mixed feelings - happy it's coming to South Africa, frustrated that they can't afford tickets, and angry that women's football is not given the same high profile.
After two energetic hours, Tumi takes off her boots and sets off for home. "I always worry. When I'm walking the streets I watch left and right. I'm not just a woman, I'm also lesbian, and there is no justice here."
The man she says assaulted her is still living in the neighbourhood, and although she's reported him to the police, they have yet to arrest him. "The police don't take it seriously," she says.
"He's threatened me again and says he knows where I live. I don't have any protection. I don't have weapon. I don't have anything. I'm just me. Just me."
You can watch a report on Tumi Mkhuma and Chosen Few by clicking here.
