Gay defectors still in closet - SAPA

Gay defectors still in closet
October 11 2002 at 12:11PM

By Ben Maclennan

A group of Cape Town city council defectors who were to have pledged allegiance to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GLA) failed to emerge from the closet on Friday.

The GLA, which describes itself as the "political voice of lesbigay South Africa", had promised to produce the defectors on the steps of the city hall at 10am on Friday.

It said the crossovers would enable it to make "an early entrance" to local politics.

But while a gaggle of journalists, including two television crews, arrived to witness the event, there were no gays.

There was a brief flicker of hope when the journalists spotted a man coming along the pavement holding up a handwritten placard that said "Fuck the ANC".

However he turned up a side street, and by 10.45am, when the GLA had still not turned up, the disappointed hacks gave up.

The GLA had claimed in a media release that it would produce nine councillors, three each from the Democratic Alliance, New National Party and African National Congress.

It implied this would give it a deciding vote in the council, which the NNP/ANC alliance earlier claimed when it announced 27 defectors from the DA camp. The defectors give the NNP and ANC 104 seats in the 200-seat council.

However an NNP source pointed out on Friday that there was something queer about the GLA's statement, as before this week's defections there had been no NNP councillors on the council.

Those who had already defected to the NNP could not legally re-defect. If the GLA did have a list of "NNP" defectors, these could only come from the ranks of the DA, he said.

If the GLA does eventually produce three ANC defectors, it will however reduce the NNP/ANC's absolute majority to only one seat.

GLA spokespersons could not be reached on Friday morning. - Sapa

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