Jholerina  B. Timbo (Madame Jholerina) founded Wings to Transcend Namibia (WTTN) in October 2015. WTTN is a non-governmental organisation that advocates and lobbies for equity and inclusion of trans people in Namibia.

Madame Jholerina said that the reason for founding WTTN was that

“there was no actual progress or investment into realising transgender people’s needs… So, my feeling was it is time that we, as trans people, organise ourselves and start a movement of our own.”

(Source: https://beyondthemargins.africa/the-fight-against-being-a-human-no-mans-zone/)

Mission

From their website:

“Wings to Transcend Namibia will be a champion and pioneer that works for social reform, legal gender recognition, and medical justice, through leadership development and empowering of transgender individuals and communities while lobbying local government, civil society and policymakers in national and international spheres about the needs of the Transgender community in Namibia”. 

Contact

Website
Email: wingstotranscendnamibia@gmail.com
Facebook

Watch our interview with Madame Jholerina

We interviewed Madame Jholerina on 14 March 2025.

In memoriam: Celebrating the life of Madame Jholerina (7 September 1985 — 9 October 2025)

We sadly bid farewell to and celebrate the life of Madame Jholerina. Jholerina Brinnette Theodora Timbo passed away last week on the 9th of October 2025. She had only turned 40 a few weeks before. She was a colourful person, proudly wearing her traditional attire and boldly claiming space everywhere she went. She claimed the name ‘Mama Trans’ as she was a mother, sister, ally and supporter to many young and newly out trans women, who came to her looking for a voice to speak their truth.

Jholerina was part of the emerging years of the early trans movement in Southern Africa. She attended the first trans- and intersex-specific workshop in Africa, hosted by IGLHRC (today known as Outright International) and Gender DynamiX, held in South Africa in December 2008. It was at this Eastern and Southern African Trans/Gender Identity Institute that she met art activist, Gabrielle Le Roux, and collaborated as a participant in the series of drawings, known as the “Proudly African & Transgender” project. She was also one of the participants in the first Intercontinental Trans Advocacy meeting, in Barcelona, Spain in June 2010, where the series of artworks was exhibited for the first time.

She founded Wings To Transcend Namibia (WTTN) in October 2015, because, as she put it: “there was no actual progress or investment into realising transgender people’s needs… So, my feeling was it is time that we, as trans people, organise ourselves and start a movement of our own.” To many, Madame Jholerina was so much more than the founder of WTTN. Apart from the lives she touched and the work she did outside of her role at WTTN while she was the Executive Director, she also served as a Grant-Making Panellist for the International Trans Fund (2023 – 2024), was a Mandela Washington fellow (2018), and part of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI, 2016), among many other accomplishments. She was an undeniable force, as her tireless and passionate work was only outshone by her warm heart, her endless generosity, and her naughty sense of humour.

Our co-founder, Liesl Theron, who knew Jholerina since 2008, shares her reflections on the news of Madame Jholerina’s death:

“My heart is still very broken after I heard the news Thursday about the passing of Madame Jholerina. The most recent time we saw each other was in June 2024, when I was organising logistics for the ITF and you attended the GMP meeting in Mexico City. The last day of GMP activities included attending the Mexico City Pride. You were boldly in bright colours as always, with a flower crown on your head! I remember those early years, way back in 2008 with our first regional trans projects, and you were part of it! We giggled every time, when you told me that you took over the name ‘Mama Trans’.”

The Trans & Intersex History Africa (TIHA) Digital Archive team mourns with her family, friends and colleagues, and we strive to honour her legacy by continuing to work for the rights of trans Africans. Rest in power, Madame J. Thank you for all that you did.

— Liesl, Victor and the TIHA team.

Memorial Service, 16 October 2025, Namibia

On the 16th of October, the Namibia Diverse Women’s Association (NWDA) held a memorial service for Madame Jholerina in her home country, Namibia.

“He was gentle, kind, had a great sense of humor, was a trail blazer, activist, leader, internationally known and loved. He will be deeply missed.”

Remembering Imam Muhsin Hendricks

Born in 1967 in Cape Town, he dedicated his life to reconciling faith and identity, and to support marginalised Muslims. Despite facing rejection and constant death threats, he established Masjidul Ghurbaah, an inclusive mosque, and reinterpreted Islamic texts to promote acceptance of queer Muslims. He founded The Inner Circle in 1996, and conducted his spiritual work at the Masjidul Ghurbaah mosque, also known as ‘The People’s Mosque’. His work empowered countless individuals to reconcile their faith and identity.

According to a Pink News article following his death,

Hendricks ran workshops for imams across Africa, helping them to develop an inclusive understanding of gender and sexuality within Islam. Julia Ehrt, executive director at the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) urged the authorities to investigate “what we fear may be a hate crime. He supported and mentored so many people in South Africa and around the world in their journey to reconcile with their faith, and his life has been a testament to the healing that solidarity across communities can bring in everyone’s lives,” she said. Hendricks’ work in Africa was considered vital, where homosexuality is still illegal in 31 out of 54 nations, with South Africa being the only country in the continent that allows same-sex marriage.

Muhsin’s life and work was the subject of a 2022 documentary, ‘The Radical: A Gay Imam’s Choice of Faith Over Fear’. In the documentary, the Imam talks about the death threats he received and continued to receive since coming out. In an interview with The Guardian, the Imam said,

“The need to be authentic is greater than my fear to die.”

Our thoughts as the Trans & Intersex History Africa team go out to the Imam’s family, friends, colleagues, those he counselled spiritually and the many whose lives he touched. This senseless murder makes a mockery of the South African constitution and the values of inclusivity and celebration of difference we all hold dear, especially in our trans and intersex movements in Africa and we call on the South African police services and government to deliver justice for a man who was an exemplary South African and human being.

Elspeth Engelbrecht from The Triangle Project wrote this moving obituary: