“I Don’t Need to Be Validated”: Transgender Activist Yaya Mavundla Responds to Transphobia

• South African transgender activist Yaya Mavundla finally responded to transphobic individuals
• This was after Mavundla revealed that many netizens were transphobic towards her under Lasizwe's recent Instagram post
• Many netizens flooded the comment section with their reactions, supporting Yaya Mavundla

Bathong! The social media streets are on fire as popular South African transgender activist Yaya Mavundla calls out transphobic netizens who insulted her under Lasizwe's recent post.

Why Yaya Mavundla was triggered?

Things just got messier online as Yaya Mavundla clapped back at Lasizwe's fans who dragged her to hell and back for her sexuality.

This came after the transgender activist bashed a Ugandan journalist, Simon Kaggwa Njala, who jokingly questioned Dambuza about why he is gay during their Awkward Dates episode on YouTube on Wednesday, 11 June 2025. This question posed a trigger for Mavundla, who went to the comment section and ranted about how humiliating this phrase was to a trans person.

However, Yaya's response didn't land well with many netizens as they called her out and others made some damning transphobic remarks.

Here's a look at Yaya's comment below:

The drama didn't end there, as Mavundla went on her X (formerly Twitter) page to address the transphobia she received from Lasizwe's fans.

"I’m sure Lasizwe is happy transphobes are calling me a man there on his post on IG. Lapho shame such “insults” don’t do anything to me yazi. I know who I am, I don’t need to be validated by hateful people, even. What a shame," she wrote.

Netizens react to Yaya's response

Shortly after Yaya Mavundla responded to the transphobia, many fans and followers supported her. See some of the comments below:

Actress Thembisa Nxumalo wrote:

"I am so sorry, my love."

@sivenattt said:

"I am so sorry babe."

@limphoseeiso_ responded:

"So sorry about all that."

@tnvenge replied:

"I’m sorry my friend. You always rise above."

Yaya Mavundla shares emotional story of her attack

Meanwhile, Yaya faced transphobic insults from netizens amid the whole Lasizwe saga back in November 2023, the transgender activist shared a horror story about how a security guard in Johannesburg allegedly assaulted her.

She also said that the police made it worse by failing to protect her as they went ahead and arrested and accused her of attacking the security guard despite her visible injuries, and she faced more homophobia and abuse.

"At the police station, I received the highest level of misgendering, abuse, homophobia and everything hateful you can think of. I will never forget it. When I requested to get medical attention, at the prison holding cells, they refused. My scars bled until they were dry. I received more hate, transphobia and misgendering when I got to court," she said.

Inno Matijane on why she chose to go public

In more entertainment news, Briefly News reported that reality TV star and DJ Innocent Matijane was open about her transitioning journey. Inno went through gender dysphoria for two years and waited for the right time to start her transition journey.

Inno Matijane has been open about her transitioning journey on social media. The popular media personality received heartwarming feedback from her fans when she shared that she started her hormone replacement therapy on 4 February 2024, after being hesitant for a while.

Source: Briefly News