Pastor Oscar Bougardt has shocked social media users by announcing that he will be running for Mayor of Cape Town.
The controversial preacher, who is known for rekking his bek on his anti-gay views, also ruffled feather boas in the LGBTQ community with his poster promoting his “Straight Party”.
Facebook users went mal on Monday when they saw the election poster in which the Strandfontein holy man promises voters he would send former president Jacob Zuma back to prison.
“Vote Rev OP Bougardt for Mayor then for President. We promise to send Zuma and Schabir Shaik Straight back to Prison. Vote Straight Party where everything is Straight Forward,” he wrote.
But it turns out the reverend’s electioneering was nothing more than a joke.
Speaking to the Daily Voice on Tuesday, Bougardt said it is in fact an old poster that he made for the previous election: “I made the poster in 2016 with the elections and I posted it and maak die moffies kwaad. They ran to the IEC to hear if the party is registered.
“I got a lot of flak and I thought let me have some more fun with them (Monday) and I changed the date.”
He says mense immediately started vloeking and calling him names and even threatened to make him “vrek”.
“There were some gay guys that said your ma se p*** on my Facebook but then I deleted it and blocked them. Because ek het nie tyd vir dit nie,” he chuckled.
“A lot of people were getting upset and giving me flak for what I call just a stupid prank.
“I am not interested in politics whatsoever.”
In May 2018, the holy man was sentenced to 30 days behind bars, which was suspended for five years.
This after he called gays “criminals and ”paedophiles“ in 2015.
In 2016 he said: “To hell with homosexuals, ...their lifestyle is an abomination to God, but Christians in South Africa are too scared to speak out against (it).”
Bougardt had appeared before Judge Lee Bozaleck in the Western Cape High Court where he faced charges of hate speech and contravening a court order of 2014, in which he agreed not to discriminate against homosexuals or incite violence or harm.
Asked whether he thought Monday’s post would get him into trouble again, the unrepentant reverend said: “I have the right to freedom of speech.
“It’s just because it is me that they feel offended.
“I just don’t care how they feel about me. Hulle maak ’n issue waar daar nie een is nie.”
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