4 Politics
25 February 2014
LGBT party comes out By Nicholas McGregor
A
rchbishop Desmond Tutu, an internationally respected leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has always been a firm believer in the improvement of LGBT rights, has called for the creation of the world’s first ever LGBT political party. Tutu famously said the following in 2013, “I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven… No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to hell… I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this.” A hoax last year gave hope to those who felt marginalised by existing South African political
parties. A new LGBT rights party called Democratic Religious Alliance Against Minority Antagonism (DRAAMA) was sarcastically launched. The party aimed to make Gay Marriage polygamy a right to all gay men to tone down the amount of infidelity in the community. Somizi Mhlongo was named the party’s spin doctor and David Tlale was said to be designing an outfit to create a unified attire to rival the EFF’s red beret. It sounded too good to be true for South Africa’s LGBT community and, as it turns out, it is. Lifestyle Tabloids, a satirical website, has duped unwary South Africans on the subject. Websites and news publications such as The Zimbabwe Mail, Mzanzi Online and Ghanaian
The colours of the rainbow shine bright in support of pride. Picture: FLICKR/David Yu
news source TV3 were all fooled by the story and printed the Lifestyle Tabloids article verbatim, which sent many into a spin. However on 1 February 2014 the truly legitimate Equal Rights party was established. Spokesperson Michael Herbst said the party would contest the next elections on behalf of the LGBT community, but had values that appeal to a wide range of voters. Herbst announced at the parties launch that government did not speak out against corrective rape. “We need someone in parliament who will speak out on gender and sexual issues,” said Herbst. Look out for the Equal Rights party logo on the ballot sheet on 7 May.
South Africa’s growing electoral smorgasbord By Nicholas McGregor In the run-up to the 2014 elections South Africa has seen an explosion of new political parties including the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), AgangsSA and the Patriotic Alliance. The common perception is that in the past there has been a limited number of political parties to vote for. The African National Congress (ANC) powerhouse seemed to trample its adversaries. While the Democratic Alliance (DA) tried desperately to expand their seats in parliament and their share in the vote. Percentage wise, they seemed to be failing. But why has the political soil of South Africa become so fertile of late? I would love to believe that it is because South Africans are becoming more educated and opinionated and are starting to debunk their living situations. Alas, despite the 2013 Matric pass rate (skewed or not) I cannot fully support this idea as I believe many of us are still lost in the illusion of the ruling parties’ past pretences. I think it comes down to Zuma’s ANC just buggering up one-too many times. Zuma, a man who is incredibly charismatic and probably far more intelligent than we give him credit for, soiled his post right from the inception of his presidency. In the midst of corruption and rape charges, he did not have a smooth introduction to governance. Somehow the populist President remained triumphant over the courts and his opponents. The praise singers were finally silenced when the Mail & Guardian broke the story on Nkandla. Former supporters called for impeachment of the Presdient as they realised he had practically embezzled from every tax payer in the country. Ladies and gentleman do not get me wrong, I am not against the ANC. I was there at FNB Stadium to mourn Nelson Mandela. I was there when President Zuma’s speech was interrupted three times by vicious booing from the crowd. It was not just the EFF or Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) supporters as Mac Maharaj suggested, but the whole stadium. From prince to pauper, Soccer City echoed with the sound of dissatisfaction. This sound resonated through the ears of egotists and liberal lefties. They know that the weight of Jacob Zuma’s transgressions are slowly sinking the ANC ship, a vessel that is already battered and bruised and taking in water by the “fire pool-load”. As it sinks it allows space for more ships to pull into the harbour. The new parties show that no party, especially the ANC speaks to the population as a whole. As we see the cracks in the ruling party, I wonder if further dividing the vote is the answer.