The United Christian Democratic Party is a minor political party in South Africa. It was founded by Lucas Mangope, leader of the Bophuthatswana bantustan 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.
Most of the party's support comes from the North West province (where the old Bophuthatswana was located), and it has very little presence elsewhere in the country. The UCDP was the official opposition to the African National Congress in the North West province in 1999 and 2004, but slipped to 4th in the provincial legislature in 2009.
At the 2009 elections, the party won 66,086 votes (0.37% of the national total), and 2 seats in Parliament, 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.
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, and neglect of South African infrastructure.
A 2003 survey conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council found that 85% of UCDP voters were female.
Read more about United Christian Democratic Party: Election Results
Famous quotes containing the words united, christian, democratic and/or party:
“Falling in love with a United States Senator is a splendid ordeal. One is nestled snugly into the bosom of power but also placed squarely in the hazardous path of exposure.”
—Barbara Howar (b. 1934)
“The most Christian France is the sole wet-nurse to the Roman court.”
—François Rabelais (1494–1553)
“In democratic ages men rarely sacrifice themselves for another, but they show a general compassion for all the human race. One never sees them inflict pointless suffering, and they are glad to relieve the sorrows of others when they can do so without much trouble to themselves. They are not disinterested, but they are gentle.”
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)
“A party of order or stability, and a party of progress or reform, are both necessary elements of a healthy state of political life.”
—John Stuart Mill (1806–1873)