Jeanette Vilakazi | |
---|---|
Delegate to the National Council of Provinces | |
Assembly Member for KwaZulu-Natal | |
In office June 1999 –May 2009 | |
Member of the National Assembly | |
In office May 1994 –June 1999 | |
Personal details | |
Citizenship | South Africa |
Political party | Inkatha Freedom Party |
Jeanette Vilakazi is a South African politician who represented the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in Parliament. She sat in the National Assembly from 1994 to 1999,having gained election in the 1994 general election, [1] and subsequently served the KwaZulu-Natal constituency in the National Council of Provinces from 1999 to 2009.
As a delegate to the NCOP,in 1999 to 2000,Vilakazi was a member of the ad hoc committee established to process South Africa's landmark Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act,commonly known as the Equality Act. In that capacity,she was a strong supporter of including provisions to prohibit discrimination on the basis of age, [2] but was sceptical about the import of heterosexism. In November 1999,IOL reported that committee chair Mohseen Moosa had intervened to prevent Vilakazi from questioning a representative of the National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality about "what gay is";saying that she could not "comprehend fully" the concept,she reportedly asked the representative to "define it,have pictures even,you know,how you do sex and all those things". [3] [4] In later years,Vilakazi was an outspoken opponent of the Civil Union Act,which she argued was "at odds with the wishes of a majority of South Africans" [5] and would "lead to the disintegration of family life and will encourage abnormal sexual behaviour". [6]
While in the NCOP,Vilakazi was also a member of Parliament's Joint Rules Committee and made national headlines in 2003 for defending MPs who were filmed falling asleep during parliamentary debates. [7] [8]
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