'ACDP welcomes gay votes'

The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), whose political fortunes diminished in the previous elections, wants homosexuals and prostitutes to vote for it in Wednesday's local government elections.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, the ACDP president, Kenneth Meshoe, said that the party wanted to appeal to a broad audience, not just to Christians.

"The fact is we don't go around asking people what (sexual orientation) are you when it's election time. We just say, 'Vote for the ACDP because of what the ACDP can do for you.'

"Even when we are given a mandate, we'll have to serve even those homosexuals ... because we won't be asking (if) you are a Christian or not a Christian. We are going to treat everybody equally," he said.

The ACDP's vote share dropped to 0.81% in 2009, down from 1.6% in 2004.

Founded on strict Christian principles, the party takes a conservative stance and is opposed to abortion, prostitution and homosexuality.

But Meshoe said every vote was important.

Asked how he would convince a gay individual to vote for his party, he said: "I would say, 'I love you as a person, but I disagree with (your sexual orientation). The fact that we disagree on this one point should not make you stop me from giving you good service (as a public representative).'"

Meshoe said the party had previously made the "mistake" of only targeting Christians, but this had changed.

"The ACDP is not just for Christians, and this time we are not just focusing on Christians."

Meshoe said while doing door-to-door campaigning in the Western Cape, party members had encountered Muslim families who supported the ACDP, as they shared similar values.

Although faced with financial difficulties in its campaign, Meshoe said the ACDP was offering "caring, accountable and diligent" candidates in the elections.

"If you want a clean environment, if you want to have proper service delivery ... the ACDP delivers for all citizens of South Africa.

"It doesn't matter, even if it's a prostitute," he said.

The ACDP was focusing on four provinces - Gauteng, Western Cape, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal - where it has pockets of support.

On coalitions, he said they would not work with one party over another - as when they sided with the Democratic Alliance in Cape Town in 2006.

"If we have another stalemate (in Cape Town) this time, the strategy is to try to force the ANC and the DA to work together, though I'm not sure we will be successful.

''Rather than being seen to be with the ANC or the DA, (we'll try to) minimise the fight between the two so that they can focus on service delivery," he said.

His message to voters was to give his party a chance.