Crimes motivated by intolerance are as inexcusable and deplorable as misdeeds underlined by greed, resentment or any other sinister motive.

Crimes motivated by intolerance are as inexcusable and deplorable as misdeeds underlined by greed, resentment or any other sinister motive.

But, as unequivocally opposed global communities might be to violence against humanity, the reality is that the world today is bedevilled by hate crimes directed at others for racial, political, religious or sexual reasons.

Intolerance is a disease that inexorably drives extremists to violence against those whom they despise or hate for being non-conformist or set in ways deemed objectionable.

Prompting our outrage are reports that the murder of two women in Soweto this week was motivated by an intolerant attitude towards lesbians.

The pair, Sizakele Sigasa, a lesbian and gay rights activist, and her friend, Salome Masooa, were tortured and murdered.

In a statement yesterday, the Treatment Action Campaign said the crime appeared to have been committed by people who were intolerant of women and lesbians.

As in the case of HIV-Aids, long stigmatised as an affliction of the promiscuous, gays unfairly also carry a stigma that condemns them as deviants because of their sexual orientation.

Let those behind the dastardly deed be warned that the hand of a murderer carries an intractable stigma of death that remains a curse for life.