The Christian Democratic Party (CDP) is a Christian social conservative

Social conservatism

Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...

 party in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. The party was registered on 9 September 1999 and was formally launched a year later. The CDP had seats in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality

City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality

The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, South Africa...

 and the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality.

The CDP's support was mainly in Gauteng

Gauteng

Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...

, and its alliance partner in Mpumalanga was the Christen Party/Christian Party

Christen Party/Christian Party

The Christen Party/Christian Party is a Protestant Christian Democratic Party, in South Africa,formed in October 2005.The party membership is open to everyone who accepts Jesus Christ as Saviour and the Bible as the inerrant word of God....

.

Leadership structure

The party's leadership structure is the Federal Leadership Council, which consisted of the party leader, two co-leaders, and provincial leaders.

Party leader

The leader of the CDP is Theunis Botha, who had been a Christian cleric since 1970. He is the founder of the Christian Drama Workshop (CDW) and the Christian Fellowship of Ministries (CFM). He had been involved in politics since 1994, as councillor in the Pretoria

Pretoria

Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...

 City Council and member of the provincial legislator (MPL) for Gauteng. Botha was opposed to what he sees as secular/humanist and socialist/liberal factions within the African National Congress

African National Congress

The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...

 and the Democratic Alliance.

Co-Federal Leader

The CDP's co-Federal Leader is Richard Botha. He had been involved in politics since 2000 when he joined the CDP. He served on various structures and became the regional Chairperson before becoming co-Federal Leader. He has served as a councillor on the Tshwane Metro Council in 2009. He serves on the Finance, City Planning and Corporate Shared Services committees.

Election results

Election	Votes	%	Seats
2004 South African general election, 2004 Legislative elections were held in South Africa on Wednesday, 14 April 2004. The African National Congress of President Thabo Mbeki, which came to power after the end of the apartheid system in 1994, was re-elected with an increased majority....	17,619	0.11	0

It did not contest the 2009 election

South African general election, 2004

Legislative elections were held in South Africa on Wednesday, 14 April 2004. The African National Congress of President Thabo Mbeki, which came to power after the end of the apartheid system in 1994, was re-elected with an increased majority....

, instead supporting the formation of a new party, the Christian Democratic Alliance (CDA), along with a number of other parties. The CDA failed to win a seat.

External links

• Christian Democratic Party official web site
• Flag of the Christian Democratic Party