Durban socialite and gender activist has finally completed her transition from being a male to a female. Aluta Humbane's transgender journey started five years ago and she says though it was not easy, it was all worth it.

THE JOURNEY 

Aluta says she started her transgender journey five years ago by attending hormonal therapy and she was also put on estrogen to soften her features such as voice, grown breasts, and her buttocks. She had her testicles removed in 2020. She says it was painful but worth the pain. "Pain is temporary I can deal with that,' she says. The 32-year-old says she finally completed the last phase of her surgery called vaginoplasty, the creation of a vagina and vulva which took 3 months. "I now have a vagina and I love it,' she says, adding that she is super happy even though it still feels unreal. Aluta says looking back to where the journey started, she would not change a thing. She says now that she is a fully-fledged woman, she feels different and complete.

MOURNING HER FORMER SELF

Aluta says she was told to wait for 3 months until she can use her new private parts. and that since the period has passed, she is more than ready to be intimate. She says she her and her partner are ready but she wants it to be special. "I want roses, champagne, and the hotel,' Aluta says she feels like she has been given a second chance to be a virgin again. Aluta added that she suffered from depression because she had to mourn her previous self. "I had to mourn the body I was born into before embracing my new self, initially I thought that was going to be easy but I fell into a depression, and am glad to say am fine now,' 

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 

She says as a socialite and gender activist, she wants to use her position to advocate for transgender people. "We have been pleading for the government to avail such operations at hospitals for free,' she said. Aluta says she was lucky to be chosen after a long waiting period. "It will make me happy if all trans were offered such opportunities to be their true selves,' she adds.