The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) was formed in December 1993 with the aim of representing South African Christians in parliament.
The ACDP was the only party in the National Assembly that voted against the adoption of the Constitution in 1994, citing moral and Biblical objections to some of the document’s clauses.
According to its 2009 election manifesto, the ACDP stands for “Christian principles, freedom of religion, a free-market economy, family values, community empowerment and human rights in a federal system”.
The ACDP and the Freedom Front Plus were the only parties unaffected by the September 2005 floor-crossing period.
In June 2013, party leader Kenneth Meshoe announced that he would be leaving parliament to focus on building his party ahead of the 2014 elections but would remain its leader.
Meshoe at the time assured voters that he would return after the 2014 poll “with an army”.
On the national level, in the 1994 elections, the party secured two seats in the National Assembly, six seats and seven in respectively in the 1999 and 2004 polls, three seats in both 2009 and 2014. In the 2019 general elections, it secured 146 262 votes (0.84%).
In the last municipal elections in 2016, the party was credited with 0.4% of the votes, down from 1,6% scored in 2000 and 2006 respectively.
