History – The need for a credible alternative to the divisive politics of the past, prompted Christians from diverse backgrounds to launch a new political party in December 1993 and so the African Christian Democratic Party was established exactly a hundred days prior to South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994. With the concept of multi-party democracy in the air, Christians from all over South Africa recognised the need for a party that would not only represent Bible-believing Christians, but also those who have a high regard for moral values.
The ACDP has taken as its platform the biblical standard of reconciliation, justice, compassion, tolerance, peace and the sanctity of life, the individual, the family and community. It proposes to direct the political debate towards these issues and to unite people around these common values, instead of focusing on ideological, historical and racial differences. During that first election in 1994, the ACDP surprised many people by securing two seats in National Government and three in Provincial Government.
Being the smallest of the seven parties represented at National Parliament, the ACDP was the only party to vote against the adoption of the South African Constitution in 1996. While the ACDP supported many of the precepts contained in the new Constitution, they believed that parts of the Constitution was in conflict with Christian Principles for a number of reasons: For example: In its Preamble, the phrase “In Humble Submission to Almighty God” was replaced with “In God We Trust”. Thus, there was no recognition that our country should be in submission to God. Reproductive Rights clauses led to the legalisation of abortion-on-demand. The clause relating to sexual orientation gave special rights to LGBTI groups that are not afforded to other citizens. This led to legalisation of same-sex marriage.
To date, the greatest growth the ACDP ever experienced was with the 2000 Local Government Elections where we saw an increase in our representation from seven councillors to more than 70 across South Africa. https://acdp.org.za
