Pink vote still up for grabs

Seventeen years into democracy, gays and lesbians are still waiting for South Africa's political parties to come out and claim the pink vote.

With just days to go before Wednesday's municipal elections, very few parties have openly tried to swing voters in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community to their side.

LGBT organisations insist that politicians have missed a golden opportunity.

"It's a terrible setback (for politicians) to have almost directly ignored minority groups," said Nonhlanhla Mkhize, director of the Durban Gay and Lesbian Centre.

While electioneering has focused on service delivery, social evils such as hate crimes against minorities have exploded, said Mkhize.

DA national spokesman Lindiwe Mazibuko claimed the party had championed the cause of gay people.

''In response to the recent assault, rape and murder of activist Noxolo Nogwaza, we immediately proposed a parliamentary motion to debate the scourge of 'corrective rape' in South Africa," she said.

KwaZulu-Natal ANC spokesman Sihle Zikalala said: "In campaigning for the elections, the ANC wants all votes ... the ANC approach is that all the people of South Africa are equal, irrespective of race or gender."

But constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos warned that openly canvassing gay voters had a "perceived downside".

He said such a move could alienate a party's core electorate, who may oppose liberal overtures.

De Vos is no stranger to hate crime. In 2004, he won an Equality Court judgment after he and his partner were attacked in a racial incident at a gay venue in Cape Town.