{{Short description|South African politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Mpowele Swathe | honorific_suffix = MP | image = Mpowele Swathe DA MP.jpg | office = Shadow Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform | predecessor = | successor = Thomas Walters | term_start = 2009 | term_end = 2014 | leader = Helen Zille | constituency_MP2 = Limpopo | parliament2 = | term_start2 = 2004 | term_end2 = 2014 | majority2 = | predecessor2 = | successor2 = | birth_date = | birth_place = Limpopo Province | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = | party = Democratic Alliance | relations = | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Mpowele Swathe''' is a South African politician, a former Member of Parliament with the Democratic Alliance, and the former Shadow Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform.
== Early life == Swathe was born in Limpopo, became part of Black Consciousness Movement in the late 1980s, and joined the United Democratic Front in 1990 and the African National Congress. He later qualified as a teacher in 1996.<ref name="pa">{{Cite web |title=Mpowele Mexan Swathe |url=http://www.pa.org.za/person/mpowele-mexan-swathe/ |access-date=2023-04-20 |website=People's Assembly |language=en}}</ref>
== Parliamentary career ==
Swathe retired from politics in 1996 before joining the Democratic Party in 2000, getting elected to parliament in the 2004 South African general election.<ref name="pa" /> In March 2014 it became known that Swathe had joined the United Christian Democratic Party (UCDP), and his name appeared on both parties' lists for the 2014 general election.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/10a11580436e7a35b258b7a64eba5fdc/Candidates-appear-on-more-than-one-party-list |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330224318/http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/10a11580436e7a35b258b7a64eba5fdc/Candidates-appear-on-more-than-one-party-list |archive-date=2014-03-30 |url-status=dead }}</ref> UCDP did not win any seats.
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=??}} {{s-ttl|title=Shadow Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform|years=2009–present}} {{s-inc}} {{s-end}}
{{South African Shadow Cabinet}}
{{DA National Assembly members}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swathe, Mpowele}} Category:Living people Category:Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2004–2009 Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2009–2014 Category:Year of birth missing (living people)