South African Deputy Minister Visits Site of Ottawa’s Future Thunderhead Monument

South African Deputy Minister Mmapaseka Steve Letsike visited the Ottawa site of the future Thunderhead memorial, which is being created as a national monument commemorating discrimination against 2SLGBTQI+ people in Canada. According to the organisers of the Ottawa Civic Space Summit , Letsike was in Canada for the event held from April 21 to 23.

According to the project description on the monument website and the Canadian Heritage page , Thunderhead is being built on traditional Anishinabe Algonquin territory in Ottawa. Its centrepiece will be a large column containing a mirrored thundercloud. The surrounding site is planned to include a garden, fruit orchard, a healing circle with stones selected by Indigenous community representatives, and space for both large gatherings and quiet reflection.

Letsike was accompanied by former U.S. special envoy for LGBTQI+ rights Jessica Stern, Kim Vance-Mubanga of Egale International, and Doug Kerr of the Canada Dignity Network. South Africa’s department linked the visit to themes of memory, recognition, and justice for vulnerable communities.

The project is financed through the proceeds of a 2018 class action settlement against the Government of Canada. That lawsuit addressed the so-called LGBT Purge, during which the state targeted, harassed, and fired 2SLGBTQI+ people from the military, police, and federal public service from the 1950s to the mid-1990s. The Thunderhead site says the monument is expected to open in summer 2026.