Kenneth Meshoe

Last updated

Lydia Meshoe
​
​
(m. 1976;died 2023)​
Kenneth Meshoe
MP
K Meshoe Toronto 2013.png
Kenneth Meshoe in 2013
Leader of the African Christian Democratic Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
9 December 1993
Children3
Alma mater University of the North
OccupationMember of Parliament
ProfessionPolitician
CommitteesPortfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation

Kenneth Rasalabe Joseph Meshoe (born 18 January 1954) is a South African evangelist, politician, reverend and teacher. He has been serving as the inaugural leader of the African Christian Democratic Party, a Christian democratic political party, since 1993. He became a Member of Parliament in 1994 and has since been re-elected five times. He is one of the longest-serving MPs.

Contents

Early life, education and career

Meshoe was born on 18 January 1954 in Pretoria, South Africa. He matriculated from high school in 1972 and went on to study at the University of the North where he obtained a Secondary Teachers Diploma in 1975. He then proceeded to work as a teacher for the next few years. [1]

He and his wife, Lydia, joined the Christ for all Nations in 1976. In February 1980, he found employment as one of Reinhard Bonnke's associate evangelists. He completed his second-year Theological Diploma at the Shekinah Bible Institute in Kingsport in the US state of Tennessee in 1987. [1]

He established his church, the Hope of Glory Tabernacle, in 1988, when he returned to South Africa. [1] In 1994, the Bethel Christian College of Riverside, California, awarded him an Honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Humane Letters). He was also appointed to serve as an Associate Member on the Board of Regents of Bethel College.

Political career

Meshoe in 2019 Rev. Kenneth Meshoe MP.jpg
Meshoe in 2019

Meshoe established the ACDP in December 1993. The party competed in the 1994 general elections and won two seats in the newly established National Assembly. Meshoe filled one of the seats. [1]

The party's support peaked in the 2004 general election when it won seven parliamentary seats and representation in six provincial legislatures. Meshoe was consequently re-elected as an MP. After the 2004 election, the ACDP started to decline in each election. [1] The party managed to arrest the decline in the 2019 general election. [2] Meshoe is currently serving his sixth term as an MP. [3] He is a member of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation. [4]

Political positions

Meshoe voted against the adoption of the final version of the South African constitution in 1996. [5] He also opposes abortion. [6] He voted against the legalisation of same-sex marriage in South Africa. [7]

Meshoe has voiced support for the previous DA mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Athol Trollip. [8] He has also spoken out on the issue of farm murders. [9]

Meshoe has voiced support for the State of Israel, [10] arguing against claims that Israel is an apartheid state, calling such accusations "slanderous" and "deceptive". According to Meshoe, these claims trivialise the word apartheid, and belittle the magnitude of the racism and suffering endured by non-white South Africans during the apartheid era. [11]

Personal life

Meshoe married Lydia Meshoe in 1976, with whom he went on to have three children, including Olga Meshoe Washington. [12] Meshoe and Lydia renewed their vows in 2016. Lydia had previously served as a representative of the ACDP in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. [13] On 25 January 2023, the ACDP announced that Lydia had died. [14] Reverend Meshoe remarried Wonkie Ncoco, a former ANC MP in 2024.

Meshoe underwent a COVID-19 test on 22 March 2020 after he participated in a religious gathering in the Free State with five infected international guests. [15] [16] The ACDP deputy leader Wayne Thring announced on 27 March that Meshoe and fellow ACDP MP Steven Swart had tested positive for the virus. Meshoe did not show any symptoms, while Swart experienced flu-like symptoms. They were the first South African MPs to test positive for the virus. [17] [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African Christian Democratic Party</span> Political party in South Africa

The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) is a South African political party founded in 1993. It is a conservative Christian party based on Biblical principles. The leader of the party is Kenneth Meshoe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. R. Swart</span> First State President of South Africa (1894–1982)

Charles Robberts Swart, nicknamed "Blackie", was a South African politician who served as the last governor-general of the Union of South Africa from 1959 to 1961 and the first state president of the Republic of South Africa from 1961 to 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Schwarz</span> South African activist and politician (1924–2010)

Harry Heinz Schwarz was a South African lawyer, statesman, and long-time political opposition leader against apartheid in South Africa who eventually served as the South African Ambassador to the United States during the country's transition to majority rule.

Grant Haskin is currently serving as Member of the Cape Town City Council and Leader of the African Christian Democratic Party in the Cape Town City Council. He previously served as Executive Deputy Mayor of Cape Town, Acting Mayor of Cape Town, Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Sports and Amenities. He served in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament for two periods. While a Member of the Provincial Parliament, he served as Chairman of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) and Special Delegate to the National Council of the Provinces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athol Trollip</span> South African politician

Roland Athol Price Trollip is a South African politician and provincial chairman of ActionSA in the Eastern Cape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Fritz</span> South African politician

Albert Theo Fritz is a South African politician and advocate. He was the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Community Safety for two nonconconsecutive terms from 2010 to 2011 and again from 2019 until his dismissal from the position amid sexual misconduct allegations in 2022. He was a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament from 2010 until his resignation from the DA in 2022. He served as the interim Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Western Cape from the suspension and resignation of Bonginkosi Madikizela in April 2021 until his resignation from the party in March 2022. He was also the deputy DA provincial leader 2017 to 2021. Fritz previously served as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Social Development from 2011 to 2019. From 2009 to 2010, he was a Member of the National Assembly and the Shadow Deputy Minister of Correctional Services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Steenhuisen</span> South African politician (born 1976)

John Henry Steenhuisen is a South African politician who is currently serving as Minister of Agriculture since July 2024. He has been the leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) since November 2020, having served as the interim leader for one year from November 2019. He served as the twentieth leader of the Opposition from October 2019 to June 2024. Pursuant to the 2024 South African general election, he was appointed to the third cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa when the DA joined the Government of National Unity (GNU).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mmusi Maimane</span> South African politician

Mmusi Aloysias Maimane is a South African politician, businessman, and leader of Build One South Africa, a political party. Maimane is also the former Leader of South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) political party from 10 May 2015 to 23 October 2019, and the former Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of South Africa from 29 May 2014 to 24 October 2019. He became the first black South African to lead the DA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solly Msimanga</span> Leader of the Opposition in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature

Solly Tshepiso Msimanga is a South African politician serving as the Leader of the Opposition in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature since May 2019. He has been a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature since February 2019, having previously served from 2014 to 2016. Msimanga was the Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality from 2016 to 2019 and the DA Provincial Chairperson from 2014 to 2017. He is currently the Democratic Alliance's Gauteng Premier candidate for the 2024 elections. Msimanga was the party's unsuccessful candidate for the 2019 elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 South African general election</span>

General elections were held in South Africa on 8 May 2019 to elect a new President, National Assembly and provincial legislatures in each province. These were the sixth elections held since the end of apartheid in 1994 and determined who would become the next President of South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ghaleb Cachalia</span> South African politician

Ghaleb Cachalia is a South African businessman and former Member of Parliament (MP). He is the son of anti-Apartheid activists Amina and Yusuf Cachalia, and a relative of former African National Congress (ANC) MP Ismail Mahomed Cachalia.

Mongameli Bobani was a South African politician and lawyer. He served as the Executive Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality from August 2018 until December 2019. He was previously the Deputy Executive Mayor and the Member of Mayoral Committee for Public Services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivan Meyer</span> South African politician

Ivan Henry Meyer is a South African politician who has been serving as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism since 2019. He has held multiple positions in the provincial cabinet. Meyer was elected to the Western Cape Provincial Parliament in 2009. He has also been the Federal Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance (DA) since November 2020, a position he previously held in an acting capacity from November 2019 to November 2020. Meyer had served as the First Deputy Federal Chairperson of the DA from 2010 to 2012, and again from 2015 to 2019. He was also the provincial leader of the party in the Western Cape from 2012 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political parties that contested the 2019 South African general election</span> Parties that contested the 2019 South African general election

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) announced on 20 March 2019 that a record number of 48 parties had registered candidates for the national parliamentary election. This is 19 more parties that contested the 2014 national elections. In the provincial legislature elections, the total number of parties registering candidates were:

Wayne Maxim Thring is a South African teacher and politician who serves as the deputy president of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP). He was sworn in as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa in May 2019. Thring had previously served as an MP in the same house in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marius Swart</span> South African politician and businessman (1941–2021)

Marius Swart was a South African politician and businessman. A member of the Democratic Alliance, he served as the inaugural Executive Mayor of the George Local Municipality from 2000 to 2004, when he was elected to the National Assembly. After serving two terms in parliament, Swart retired from politics in 2014.

Louis Michael Green is a South African politician who served in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2009. He was the chief whip of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) until September 2005, when he crossed the floor to the newly founded Federation of Democrats (FD). He has since joined the Congress of the People (COPE).

Daniel Ntjammu Habedi is a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist. He is a former secretary-general of the Azanian People's Organisation and represented the party in the National Assembly from April to June 2004; his tenure was cut short by the Electoral Court's finding that the seat had been allocated to the wrong party.

Olga Meshoe Washington (1981-2025) was a South African attorney known for her work in interfaith relations and Israel advocacy.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Political Leader: Kenneth Meshoe, African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP)". The South African. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  2. ↑ Gous, Nico (10 May 2019). "ANC in clear lead, DA slips, EFF and FF+ grow: Election results taking shape". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  3. ↑ Ndenze, Babalo (23 May 2019). "Opposition parties congratulate President Ramaphosa, Malema gives warning". EWN. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  4. ↑ "Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation". Parliament of South Africa. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  5. ↑ "acdp – media – speech by K R Meshoe – 05/96" (PDF). justice.gov.za. A number of clauses that were promoted and endorsed by other political parties, which we as the ACDP feel undermine biblical principles, have been included in this document. Consequently we are forced to vote against it.
  6. ↑ Janse van Rensburg, Alet (19 April 2019). "The time has come for a godly government – ACDP's Meshoe". Elections'19 – News24. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  7. ↑ Tuesday, 14 November 2006. Proceedings of the National Assembly. Retrieved 27 March 2020
  8. ↑ Friedman, Daniel. "ACDP's Meshoe slams DA 'arrogance' after Trollip removed by 'racists'". The Citizen. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  9. ↑ "AfriForum in Australia to highlight farm murders in SA". Polity.org.za. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  10. ↑ "Reinstate ambassador to Israel – "SA Christians"". Polity.org.za. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  11. ↑ "European Reporter Questions South African Member of Parliament on Israeli Apartheid Charge". IIACF. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2012– via YouTube.
  12. ↑ Hofmeyer, Marina (7 January 2025). "Rest in peace: A tribute to Olga Meshoe Washington". JOY! News. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
  13. ↑ "ACDP couple still in love after 40 years". TimesLIVE. 17 October 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  14. ↑ "ACDP leader's wife has passed away". SABC News. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  15. ↑ "ACDP leader Kenneth Meshoe tested for coronavirus". IOL. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  16. ↑ "ACDP leader Kenneth Meshoe tests positive for COVID-19". EWN. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  17. ↑ Thring, Wayne. "ACDP statement on COVID 19 test results of Rev Kenneth Meshoe and Steve Swart MP". ACDP. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  18. ↑ Madia, Tshidi (27 March 2020). "Coronavirus in SA: ACDP's Kenneth Meshoe and Steve Swart test positive". News24. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Position established
 Leader of the African Christian Democratic Party
1993–present		Incumbent
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.