Kenneth Rasalabe Joseph Meshoe (born 18 January 1954) is a South African
evangelist
Evangelist may refer to:
Religion
* Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels
* Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ
* Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...
, politician, reverend and teacher. He has been serving as the inaugural leader of the
African Christian Democratic Party
African or Africans may refer to:
* Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa:
** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa
*** Ethn ...
, a
Christian democratic
Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism.
It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...
political party, since 1993. He became a Member of Parliament in 1994 and has since been re-elected five times. He is one of the longest-serving MPs.
Early life, education and career
Meshoe was born on 18 January 1954 in
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. He matriculated from high school in 1972 and went on to study at the
University of the North
The University of Limpopo is a university in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2005, by the merger of the University of the North and the Medical University of South Africa (MEDUNSA). These previous institutions for ...
where he obtained a Secondary Teachers Diploma in 1975. He then proceeded to work as a teacher for the next few years.
He and his wife, Lydia, joined the Christ For All Nations in 1976. In February 1980, he found employment as one of Reinhard Bonnke's associate evangelists. He completed his second-year Theological Diploma at the
Shekinah Bible Institute in
Kingsport in the US state of
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
in 1987.
He established his church, the Hope of Glory Tabernacle, in 1988, when he returned to South Africa.
In 1994, the Bethel Christian College of
Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...
, awarded him an Honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Humane Letters). He was also appointed to serve as an Associate Member on the Board of Regents of Bethel College.
Political career
![Rev](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Rev._Kenneth_Meshoe_MP.jpg)
Meshoe established the ACDP in December 1993. The party competed in the
1994 general elections and won two seats in the newly established
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
. Meshoe filled one of the seats.
The party's support peaked in the
2004 general election when it won seven parliamentary seats and representation in six provincial legislatures. Meshoe was consequently re-elected as an MP. After the 2004 election, the ACDP started to decline in each election.
The party managed to arrest the decline in the
2019 general election. Meshoe is currently serving his sixth term as an MP. He is a member of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation.
Political positions
Meshoe voted against the adoption of the final version of the
South African constitution
The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, it sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of the Govern ...
in 1996. He also opposes abortion. He voted against the legalisation of
same-sex marriage in South Africa
Same-sex marriage in South Africa has been legal since the '' Civil Union Act, 2006'' came into force on 30 November 2006. The decision of the Constitutional Court in the case of '' Minister of Home Affairs v Fourie'' on 1 December 2005 extended ...
.
Meshoe has voiced support for the previous DA mayor of
Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality ( af, Nelson Mandelabaai Metropolitaanse Munisipaliteit; xh, uMasipala wase Nelson Mandela Bay or ''uMasipala waseBhayi'') is one of eight metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipalities (als ...
,
Athol Trollip
Roland Athol Price Trollip (born 12 March 1964) is a South African politician and provincial chairman of ActionSA in the Eastern Cape. He was previously a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA), serving as the Federal Chairperson of the DA from ...
. He has also spoken out on the issue of farm murders.
Meshoe has voiced support for the State of Israel, arguing against
claims
Claim may refer to:
* Claim (legal)
* Claim of Right Act 1689
* Claims-based identity
* Claim (philosophy)
* Land claim
* A ''main contention'', see conclusion of law
* Patent claim
* The assertion of a proposition; see Douglas N. Walton
* A righ ...
that
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
is an
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
state, calling such accusations "slanderous" and "deceptive". According to Meshoe, these claims trivialise the word apartheid, and belittle the magnitude of the racism and suffering endured by non-white South Africans during the apartheid era.
Personal life
Meshoe married
Lydia Meshoe in 1976, with whom he went on to have three children. They renewed their vows in 2016. Lydia had previously served as a representative of the ACDP in the
Gauteng Provincial Legislature
The Gauteng Provincial Legislature is the legislature of the South African province of Gauteng. It is a unicameral body of 73 members elected every five years. The current legislature, the sixth, was elected on 8 May 2019 and has an African Natio ...
. On 25 January 2023, the ACDP announced that Lydia had died.
Meshoe underwent a
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
test on 22 March 2020 after he participated in a religious gathering in the Free State with five infected international guests.
The ACDP deputy leader
Wayne Thring
Wayne Maxim Thring (born 1 February 1963) is a South African teacher and politician who serves as the deputy president of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP). He was sworn in as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa in May ...
announced on 27 March that Meshoe and fellow ACDP MP
Steven Swart had tested positive for the virus. Meshoe did not show any symptoms, while Swart experienced flu-like symptoms. They were the first South African MPs to test positive for the virus.
References
External links
Rev Kenneth Raselabe Joseph Meshoe – Parliament of South Africa*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meshoe, Kenneth
Politicians from Pretoria
1954 births
Living people
African Christian Democratic Party politicians
Members of the National Assembly of South Africa
University of Limpopo alumni
20th-century South African politicians
21st-century South African politicians
South African anti-abortion activists
South African evangelicals