RECORD GAY PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES FOR DA
The Democratic Alliance has the highest number of gay parliamentary candidates of any party in the country, says Joburg City Councillor Ian Ollis.
In an exclusive interview with Mambaonline, the openly gay Ollis revealed that there are five gay and lesbian people among the top 20 candidates in the party’s Gauteng parliamentary list; in other words 25% of the top 20 candidates.
“This includes people like Mike Waters, our national health spokesperson, myself and another three.” Ollis, who is number 12 on the list said that “the DA has outdone itself with gay candidates this year.”
He added: “On the DA’s provincial list for the Gauteng legislature, we have Paul Willemburg, currently an MPL and again a candidate for the April 22 list.
“In the city of Johannesburg, the DA currently has four gay councillors that I know of (including Nico De Jager and Paul Smit) and a number in the Pretoria City council also – as well as parliamentary lists from other provinces like the Western Cape, and so on.”
Ollis told Mambaonline that he had been given the go-ahead by the party’s leadership, and the candidates he named, to discuss the issue with the media.
Click here to read the full interview.
ian ollis. great to have a guy who is eloquent and who comes up for our rights in a sensible and dignified way. good luck!
To vote DA?. COPE has chosen an anti-gay bishop as it’s presidential candidate and that leaves only two parties for gays to consider – the ID of Pat De Lille and the DA.
Great going DA!
All good and well. The DA is great but they have never been strong enough to break the ANC’s 2/3 majority, sadly because they still have the stigma of the “white” party. You really should not vote with your heart in this election, but with your head.
Cope is our onle REAL chance to break the 2/3 majority. Lesser of 2 evils? Perhaps. But in this election you should vote strategically. First things first. We first need to break the death grip of the anc and give them less power. Then with the NEXT election when SA Politics are more balanced and fair, we can vote for the party we WANT to. Fact is, COPE really is our best chance to either keep Zuma from becoming president, or at least when he does, give him less power to make and break as he pleases…. Think very carefully before you vote. We ALL love aunty Zille, but in 14 years the DA couldn’t make a real dent in the ANC armour , so what are heir chances this time?
It makes no difference really. Due to proportional representation, all votes count. A vote for any opposition party (who has parliamentary representation) is taking away from the ANC and thus their 2/3’s.
A stay away is a vote for the ANC.
Vide:
ANC Opposition
XXXXXX XXXX
No 2/3’s for ANC
ANC Opposition
XXXXXX XXX (1 stay away)
ANC has 2/3’s majority.
Think it through…. You don’t really make any sense. How can voting for COPE and not the DA change the outcome of the election?
You still only have one vote and it doesn’t matter which opposition party it goes to as long as it weaken the ANC. Every vote against the ANC weakens it! So vote with your head and your heart…vote DA. The only party with a proven track record and no insatiable lust for Power.
Blue is the Pink. Brilliant! Cope kept on asking the DA if they supporting gay rights and to prove it, trying to make the DA look bad.
I hope that COPE now has their answers they they so deperately wanted – not that they care about gay rights as a newly formed party with a Bishop running for president. A Bishop that was part of the group who protested againt gay marriages being legalised in South Africa.
Ian Ollis. They have my vote – Ian Ollis makes me proud.