Mpowele Swathe is a South African politician, a former Member of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

with the Democratic Alliance, and the former Shadow Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform.

Early life

Swathe was born in

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

, became part of

Black Consciousness Movement The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Afri ...

in the late 1980s, and joined the United Democratic Front in 1990 and the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

. He later qualified as a teacher in 1996.

Parliamentary career

Swathe retired from politics in 1996 before joining the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

in 2000, getting elected to parliament in the

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

. In March 2014 it became known that Swathe had joined the

United Christian Democratic Party The United Christian Democratic Party is a minor political party in South Africa. It was founded by Lucas Mangope, leader of the Bophuthatswana bantustan in 1997, as a successor to the Tswana National Party, and led by him for the first fifteen ...

(UCDP), and his name appeared on both parties' lists for the 2014 general election. UCDP did not win any seats.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swathe, Mpowele Living people Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Year of birth missing (living people)