The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced new mission presidents who will begin their assignments this July. Thabo Lebethoa, currently the President for the Soweto, South Africa Stake, has been called as mission president for the Cape Town, South Africa mission.
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Lebethoa, a convert to the Mormon Church, is the first black South African to be called to preside over a South African mission. He and his wife, Andronica, married in 2002. They are parents of four children, two boys and two girls.
He met his wife, also a convert, at a young single adult activity in August 1999, six months after joining the church. Lebethoa was born on September, 1975, in Soweto. He is the eldest son of Holopi Simon Lebethoa and Hilda Magadi Lebethoa.
“My life began to change as I embraced more teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” says Lebethoa as he reflects on his conversion. “I am truly grateful for the privilege that is mine to belong to the only true church upon the face of the earth. I know that it is true with every fibre of my being.”
Lebethoa was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in February 1999. In September 200, he was ordained an elder and called to serve as a second counsellor in the Stake Mission Presidency for a few months. Thereafter was called to serve as a High Councillor in the Soweto Stake in March 2001.
That responsibility was followed by another call to serve as a Stake Clerk in 2002 for about 3 years. He then was called as second counselor in the bishopric in the Florida Ward in 2005 and a year later was called as a first counselor in the bishopric in the same ward.
“In 2008 I was again called to serve as a High Counselor in the Soweto Stake and served for a year. I received a call to serve as Bishop of the Florida Ward in March 2009 where I served until March 2010 when I was called as President of the Soweto South Africa Stake by Elder Marlin K. Jensen of the Seventy,” says Lebethoa.
Professionally, at the time of this call, Lebethoa was the Area Human Resources Manager for the Southeast Africa Area. He has held several other positions within church employment after starting out as an accountant at one of the largest investment banks in South Africa, where he worked for almost 4 years. He graduated from university in 1999 with a Bachelor of Accounting Science degree where he majored in Accounting, Taxation and Auditing.