The promised land

Somagwaza: a Queen's Herald, 2017

The word "Azania" was used by Arab sailors up until the 10th century to denote an ancient east African society. It was later adopted by black nationalist groups during apartheid as a name for liberated South Africa.

Ruga recalls the latter use. Born in Umtata, South Africa in 1984, he was raised in the last years of apartheid. His father was a journalist living in exile, and his mother worked as a midwife during these incredibly testing times.

Naturally, Ruga said, they were politically active. As a family they would go on protests, and Ruga remembered how people would speak of Azania, the promised land.

This resonated with him: "The idea of us dreaming of a future, and creating the idea of Azania, or Zion, or Atlantis, creating whatever and having to fight for it."

But a nationalistic utopia jars with Ruga. In his opinion it's exclusive, "it removes the gays, the lesbians, the queers, the disabled."

"That's why I wanted to create Azania," he says. It represents his ideal utopia: "a space without borders, a space where you don't need a visa, or to be of a certain height, or skin-tone, or income."

Last year a survey by Pew Research Center found that 61% of people in South Africa believe society should not accept homosexuality.

The picture on the wider continent is even more extreme. 38 out of 54 countries have enacted laws that make it illegal to be gay.

"I am a black, non-Christian, gay man living in post-1994 South Africa," he says. "I can't just meander without being challenged by the status quo. Even when I step outside I become a subject of a political debate."