African Christian Democratic Party

• WaterHave private experts fix leaks, replace faulty meters and remove illegal connections.
• Electricity and power cutsMake councils (Council The group of elected people who make decisions for a municipality. They pass its budget and choose the mayor.) replace old power lines, cut illegal connections and maintain them.
• RubbishBuild more plants that turn waste into energy, to cut landfill use.
• Toilets and sewageReplace shared toilets and bucket toilets with proper water and sewer pipes.
• RoadsMake councils maintain roads and fix potholes, traffic and street lights fast.

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• Building housesClear the housing backlog with affordable, mixed-income homes through community-owned self-help schemes.
• Informal settlementsReplace informal settlements with permanent homes instead of temporary shacks.
• Title deedsFast-track township approvals so qualifying people in council homes get title deeds.

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• CrimeIncrease police visibility, roadblocks, stop-and-search and random drug-and-alcohol tests on drivers.
• Metro policeRaise the running budgets of the SAPS and metro (Metro A big city with one council for the whole city, such as Johannesburg or Cape Town. There are 8. Voters there get 2 ballot papers.) police.
• Local jobsEncourage businesses to offer paid internships.
• Business and growthAdd help for small businesses to the main focus of councils.

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• CorruptionProsecute corruption cases fast and make the guilty personally repay the state.
• Audit resultsMake council accounts committees set out fixes for serious Auditor-General findings.
• Wasteful spendingEnd corrupt, irregular, fruitless and wasteful spending.
• CoalitionsSupport, with some exceptions, the 2024 bill that sets council coalition (Coalition Parties that agree to run a council together, usually because none has more than half the seats alone. Together they choose the mayor.) rules.
• BudgetsFund upkeep and upgrades of water, sewer, road and power networks first.

Compare every party on governance and money →

• In George in the Western Cape, the ACDP is part of a coalition (Coalition Parties that agree to run a council together, usually because none has more than half the seats alone. Together they choose the mayor.) with the DA and FF Plus. This coalition formed in November 2025. The council's (Council The group of elected people who make decisions for a municipality. They pass its budget and choose the mayor.) website lists ACDP Alderman Johan du Toit as the Mayoral Committee Member (MMC) for Corporate Services. An MMC is a councillor (Councillor A person elected to make decisions for a municipality, such as the budget and who the mayor is. Each one holds one seat.) on the mayor's (Mayor The leader of the municipality. Councillors choose this person, not voters. So the seats each party wins decide who can lead.) team who runs one area of work.
• In uMhlathuze in KwaZulu-Natal, the ACDP holds 1 of 67 seats, IOL reported in March 2026. It is part of the coalition that runs the council there, with the IFP, DA, NFP and FF Plus. We found no ACDP office-bearer (a top post such as mayor or speaker) there.

Parties (Party A group of people who stand for election together, with shared plans.) must declare some donations. This applies when one donor gives them more than R200 000 in total in a financial year. A financial year runs from April to March. The limit used to be R100 000. The President raised it in Proclamation Notice R. 275 of 2025. This was published in the Government Gazette on 18 August 2025. So the July to September 2025 report uses R100 000 for donations before that date. A smaller donation is declared once the donor's total for the year passes the limit. The IEC says the Political Funding Act covers each registered (Registered Your name is on the voters' roll. Registration for this election closed on 7 August 2026.) party, even one with no seats (Seat A place on the council, held by one councillor. A party with more votes gets more of these places.) in Parliament (Parliament South Africa's national law-makers, in Cape Town. It has two parts, the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.) or a provincial legislature. So the IEC's reports cover each party listed here. Smaller gifts, membership fees and public money are not in these reports. So no rows means no donor passed the limit in these reports. It does not mean the party got no money. The IEC's yearly report shows each party's total of smaller gifts, without names. These are the donations the party told the IEC about, as the IEC published them. We do not compare parties. Checked 20 October 2026.

• “We strongly condemn Iran’s calls for death and destruction that clearly seek to incite violence and destruction upon other countries.”

  In Parliament, 19 March 2026

  Kenneth Meshoe, an ACDP MP (MP (Member of Parliament) A person who sits in Parliament, which makes South Africa's laws. They are not chosen in this local election.), said this in a speech in Parliament (Parliament South Africa's national law-makers, in Cape Town. It has two parts, the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.). He spoke after the United States attacked Iran. He says Iran's leaders call for harm to America and Israel, and the ACDP is against this. He asks the United Nations to seek a ban on such talk from Iran. He wants South Africa to deal with other countries by what helps it today, not by history.

• “The ACDP is shocked that the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) and the ANC-led government have declared the Israeli Chargé d’affaires, Ariel Seidman, persona non grata”

  Party statement, 31 January 2026

  Wayne Thring, the ACDP deputy president, said this in a party statement. The government had ordered Israel's top diplomat in South Africa to leave within 72 hours. The ACDP says this followed a meeting between Israeli officials and an Eastern Cape king about help after floods. The ACDP is against the move and asks why Iran's ambassador (Ambassador The top person a country sends to speak for it in another country.) was not sent home. It says the step will strain South Africa's relations with the US and its trade partners.

• “The ACDP's parliamentary whip, Steve Swart, and former MP, Marie Sukers, were among at least 10 MPs, mostly from the Democratic Alliance (DA) and also from the Patriotic Alliance (PA), who were on the trip last week sponsored by the group the South African Friends of Israel.”

  News report, 15 April 2025

  EWN reported that ACDP chief whip Steve Swart went on an April 2025 Israel trip paid for by South African Friends of Israel. Leader Kenneth Meshoe approved it. The group met Israel's President Isaac Herzog. Meshoe said the ACDP feels for innocent Palestinians, but does not back the ICJ case.

• “Yet, today in addition to the unacceptable SANRAL bail-out of R5.1bn, we are expected to approve more than R95 million to fund lawfare against Israel at the ICJ.”

  Party statement, 5 December 2024

  The ACDP opposed a spending bill that held more than R95 million for the ICJ case. The ACDP said the bill also held a R5.1 billion bail-out for SANRAL, the roads agency.

• “The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) was extended an invitation by the South African Friends of Israel (SAFI) to participate in a peace mission to Israel.”

  Party statement, 27 March 2024

  The ACDP said South African Friends of Israel (SAFI) invited it on a "peace mission" to Israel, and it took part.

• “The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) does not support the South African government’s court case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (the ICJ) in The Hague, to be heard later this week.”

  Party statement, 10 January 2024

  The ACDP said it does not support South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the ICJ. It said it does not believe the government "will be able to prove" that Israel has the "genocidal intent" the Genocide Convention requires.

• “The Democratic Alliance (DA) and African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) are not throwing their weight behind South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.”

  News report, 10 January 2024

  EWN reported that the ACDP and the DA did not support South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the ICJ.

• “The ACDP is appalled to hear of the invited visit and meeting between the ANC and Hamas yesterday.”

  Party statement, 2 December 2023

  The ACDP said it was "appalled" that the ANC met Hamas leaders.

• Vote in Parliament, 21 November 2023

  All four ACDP MPs present voted against asking the government to close Israel's embassy (Embassy A country's main office in another country. It speaks for its own government there.) and cut ties. The motion passed, 248 votes to 91.

• “The ACDP rejects the EFF’s call to government to close the Israeli Embassy in South Africa and suspend all diplomatic relations with Israel. The EFF is ignorant of the fact that South Africa needs Israel much more than Israel needs South Africa.”

  In Parliament, 16 November 2023

  ACDP leader Kenneth Meshoe told Parliament the party rejects closing Israel's embassy.

• “The ACDP stands unequivocally in support of Israel and the Jewish people at this critical time.”

  Party statement, 7 October 2023

  The ACDP condemned Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. It backed Israel's right to defend itself.

• “South Africa's foreign policy stance has strained relations with key trade partners such as the United States and the European Union, largely due to our alignment with Russia, China and Iran.”

  In Parliament, 24 March 2026

  ACDP MP Wayne Thring told Parliament that ties with the US and EU are strained. He said this is because South Africa lines up with Russia, China and Iran.

• “Whilst the government tries to present its foreign policy in a neutral nonaligned tone, its actions do not match its words, including failing to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine”

  In Parliament, 13 January 2026

  Steve Swart, an ACDP MP, said this in a debate in Parliament. MPs were voting on extra money for HIV and Aids care after US funding stopped. He means the government claims to take no side, yet stayed quiet when Russia invaded Ukraine. He says the ANC leans towards Russia and China, which sets it against the US. He asks the other parties in the unity government to question these choices.

• “This government has, on the one hand, claimed neutrality on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, yet on the other hand, has rushed to take legal action against Israel at the International Court of Justice”

  Party statement, 3 July 2025

  Kenneth Meshoe, an ACDP MP, said this in a debate on how much money the foreign affairs department gets. He says the government judges some countries more harshly than others. South Africa took Israel to the International Court of Justice, the United Nations' top court. He says the government did not act the same way over Ukraine. The ACDP opposes spending tax money on such court cases and would not support the budget.

• “South Africa's foreign policy stance has strained relations with key trade partners such as the United States and the European Union, largely due to our alignment with Russia, China and Iran.”

  In Parliament, 24 March 2026

  ACDP MP Wayne Thring told Parliament that ties with the US and EU are strained. He said this is because South Africa lines up with Russia, China and Iran.

• “China is expanding its military at an unbelievable pace, threatening Japan and rehearsing for a possible invasion of Taiwan”

  In Parliament, 13 January 2026

  Steve Swart, an ACDP MP, said this in a debate in Parliament. He pointed out that South Africa was hosting navy exercises with China, Iran, Russia and the UAE. He says China is a growing danger to Japan and to Taiwan, an island near China. He says South Africa is silent about this and about how China treats Christians and Uyghur Muslims. He wants South Africa to rethink its foreign policy.

• “The ACDP cautions that DIRCO should not adopt a hypocritical foreign policy position, having a non-aligned position on China’s abuse of Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang”

  Party statement, 11 July 2024

  Wayne Thring, an ACDP MP, said this in a debate on the foreign affairs budget. Uyghurs are a Muslim people who live in Xinjiang, a region of China. He says the department takes no side on China's treatment of them, or on Russia and Ukraine. Yet he says it sides with Hamas, the armed group fighting Israel. He wants the department to use one standard for every country.

• “South Africa's foreign policy stance has strained relations with key trade partners such as the United States and the European Union, largely due to our alignment with Russia, China and Iran.”

  In Parliament, 24 March 2026

  ACDP MP Wayne Thring told Parliament that ties with the US and EU are strained. He said this is because South Africa lines up with Russia, China and Iran.

• “We have more urgent – and beneficial – work to do, repairing relations with Washington, than cozying up to Tehran, no matter how many promises may be owed to them.”

  In Parliament, 3 July 2025

  Kenneth Meshoe, an ACDP MP, said this in a debate on the foreign affairs budget. The US had cut some HIV and Aids aid and sent South Africa's ambassador home. Washington is the US capital, and Tehran is the capital of Iran. He means fixing relations with the US matters more to South Africa than getting close to Iran. He wants foreign policy to serve South Africans first.

• “The ACDP urges government to engage in bilateral talks with the US administration in the hope that our soft approach would send a clear message that South Africa is ready for business”

  In Parliament, 6 March 2025

  Kenneth Meshoe, an ACDP MP, said this in a debate in Parliament about US aid. US President Trump had stopped aid to South Africa over its land laws. The ACDP says the US based this on wrong information about the Expropriation Act. He wants South Africa's leaders to sit down with US leaders and talk calmly. He hopes this brings back investment and the aid programmes that were stopped.

• “it nevertheless, highlights the enormous debt of gratitude we should have for the aid we have received from the US.”

  In Parliament, 6 March 2025

  In the debate on the US aid cut, the ACDP said South Africa should be grateful for the aid it got from the US.

We found nothing. Checked 27 October 2026.