The United Christian Democratic Party is a minor

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. It was founded by Lucas Mangope, leader of the

Bophuthatswana Bophuthatswana (, meaning "gathering of the Tswana people"), officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana ( tn, Riphaboliki ya Bophuthatswana; af, Republiek van Bophuthatswana), was a Bantustan (also known as "Homeland"; an area set aside for mem ...

bantustan A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (n ...

in 1997, as a successor to the Tswana National Party, and led by him for the first fifteen years of its existence. Mavis Matladi was elected as its leader on 29 January 2011 after the expulsion of Mangope. Matladi died in December 2011. Isaac Sipho Mfundisi was elected president on Saturday, 7 January 2012. Mfundisi was succeeded by the current President Modiri Desmond Sehume who was elected in the Federal Congress in 2019. Most of the party's support comes from the North West province (where the old

was located), and it has very little presence elsewhere in the country. The UCDP was the official opposition to the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

in the North West province in 1999 and 2004, but slipped to 4th in the provincial legislature in 2009, and lost all of its seats in the provincial legislature in 2014. In the 2009 elections, the party won 66,086 votes (0.37% of the national total), and 2 seats in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, representing a loss of approximately 50% of its support, and 1 seat, from the preceding elections. In the provincial elections, their support dropped from 8.49% and 3 seats in the 2004 North West provincial election, to 5,27% and 2 seats in 2009. In 2009, in six of the other provinces, they gained less than 0.1% support. In the

2014 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2014. * 2014 United Nations Security Council election 16 October 2014 Africa * 2014 Algerian presidential election 17 April 2014 * 2014 Botswana general election 24 October 2014 * 2014 Comorian presi ...

, the party slumped further, losing all of its provincial and national seats. After the 2021 municipal elections, the UCDP retains a small presence at local level with elected representatives in five municipalities, all in the North West. The party's mission statement stresses the need for Christian values, non-racial democracy, and government inducements for personal self-reliance, while the 2004 manifesto attacked the ANC for, among other things, its alleged softness on crime,

nepotism Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...

, and neglect of South African infrastructure. A 2003 survey conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council found that 85% of UCDP voters were female.

Election results

National elections

, - ! Election ! Total votes ! Share of vote ! Seats ! +/– ! Government , - !

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, 125,280 , 0.80 , , – , , - !

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

, 117,792 , 0.75 , , ±0 , , - !

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

, 66,086 , 0.37 , , 1 , , - !

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

, 21,744 , 0.12 , , 2 ,

Provincial elections

! rowspan=2 , Election ! colspan=2 ,

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

! colspan=2 , Free State ! colspan=2 ,

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

! colspan=2 ,

Kwazulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is loca ...

! colspan=2 ,

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature ...

! colspan=2 ,

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. ...

! colspan=2 , North-West ! colspan=2 ,

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi ...

! colspan=2 ,

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 202 ...

, - ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats , - !

, - , , - , 0.78% , , 0/30 , 0.24% , , 0/73 , - , , - , 0.23% , , 0/49 , - , , - , 9.57% , , 3/33 , - , , - , - , , - , - !

, 0.12% , , 0/63 , 0.77% , , 0/30 , 0.26% , , 0/73 , 0.14% , , 0/80 , 0.22% , , 0/49 , 0.17% , , 0/30 , 8.49% , , 3/33 , 0.33% , , 0/30 , 0.23% , , 0/42 , - !

, 0.08% , , 0/63 , 0.33% , , 0/30 , 0.24% , , 0/73 , 0.05% , , 0/80 , 0.09% , , 0/49 , 0.07% , , 0/30 , 5.27% , , 2/33 , 1.21% , , 0/30 , 0.08% , , 0/42 , - !

, 0.05% , , 0/63 , 0.11% , , 0/30 , 0.08% , , 0/73 , 0.06% , , 0/80 , 0.06% , , 0/49 , 0.06% , , 0/30 , 1.18% , , 0/33 , 0.37% , , 0/30 , 0.05% , , 0/42 , - ! 2019 , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , - , , - , 0.48% , , 0/33 , - , , - , - , , -

Municipal elections

, - ! Election ! Votes ! % , - ! 2000 , , 1.0% , - !

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

, 334,504 , 1.3% , - !

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

, 168,351 , 0.6% , - ! 2016 , 28,241 , 0.07% , - ! 2021 , 26,331 , 0.09%

References

External links

United Christian Democratic Party
official site {{Authority control 1997 establishments in South Africa 2004 establishments in South Africa Christian democratic parties in South Africa Conservative parties in South Africa Political parties established in 1997 Political parties established in 2004 Political parties in South Africa Protestant political parties