Paul Ditshetelo Explained

Party:United Christian Democratic Party
Office1:Member of the National Assembly
Termstart1:June 1999
Termend1:May 2009
Citizenship:South Africa
Birth Date:16 October 1936
Death Place:Johannesburg, South Africa
Spouse:Celia Ditshetelo

Kgomotso Paul Harry Ditshetelo (16 October 1936 – 11 October 2011) was a South African politician who represented the United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP) in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2009. He was also the deputy president of the UCDP from 1998 to 2011. During apartheid, he was a politician and civil servant in Bophuthatswana.

Political career

Ditshetelo was born on 16 October 1936 in the region that later became the North West province.[1] In 1972, he was a founding member of Lucas Mangope's Tswana National Party, and he also worked in Mangope's government in the Bophuthatswana homeland, serving as a secretary in Bophuthatswana's "embassy" in Pretoria from 1978 to 1988.[2] [3] In 1989, he was appointed as a governor in the homeland government, stationed at Kudumane.

Post-apartheid political career

When the Tswana National Party (since renamed the Christian Democratic Party) was restyled as the UCDP in 1994, Ditshetelo became its inaugural secretary-general. He subsequently deputised Mangope as the UCDP's deputy president from 1998 until January 2011, when he stepped down due to ill health.

At the same time, from 1999 to 2009, Ditshetelo represented the UCDP in the National Assembly, the lower house of the post-apartheid South African Parliament; he was elected in 1999[4] and re-elected in 2004.[5] He was elected to a third term in 2009 but declined to be sworn into the seat.[6]

Personal life and death

He was married to politician Celia Ditshetelo, with whom he had three children and several grandchildren. He died on 11 October 2011 in a hospital in Johannesburg after a lengthy illness.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 27 October 2011 . Motion Of Condolence (The Late Mr Paul Harry Kgomotso Ditshetelo) . 2023-04-11 . People's Assembly . en.
  2. Web site: 2011 . Paul Harry Ditshetelo called to a better place . 2023-04-11 . United Christian Democratic Party.
  3. Web site: 27 October 2011 . Chief Whip of the majority party motion without notice on the death of Mr Paul Harry Kgomotso Ditshetelo . 2023-04-11 . ANC Parliamentary Caucus.
  4. 11 June 1999 . General Notice: Notice 1319 of 1999 – Electoral Commission: Representatives Elected to the Various Legislatures . . Pretoria, South Africa . . 408 . 20203 . 26 March 2021.
  5. 20 April 2004 . General Notice: Notice 717 of 2004 - Electoral Commission – List of Names of Representatives in the National Assembly and the Nine Provincial Legislatures in Respect of the Elections Held on 14 April 2004 . . Pretoria, South Africa . . 466 . 2677 . 4–95 . 26 March 2021.
  6. Web site: Members of the National Assembly . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140209085913/http://www.pmg.org.za/node/30336 . 9 February 2014 . 2 March 2023 . Parliamentary Monitoring Group.