INDEPENDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSION
ELECTORAL COMMISSION
PUBLISHES FIRST POLITICAL PARTY FUNDING QUARTERLY REPORT
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ix months after the implementation of the Political Party Funding Act, 6 of 2018, on 1 April 2021, the Electoral Commission has published the first 2021/22 Quarterly Disclosure Report in terms of the Act and its regulations. This first report was done on 9 September 2021, a month before the expiry of a stipulated six-month period granted to the Commission during the first year of implementation.
party made declaration of qualifying direct donations,” says Electoral Commission Chief Executive: Party Funding, George Mahlangu. These are the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance (DA) and ActionSA. The ANC and the DA declared individual donations received of R10 720 000.00 and R15 983 751.48, respectively. Action SA declared total direct donations amounting to R3 305 090.26.
For the first quarter of the 2021/22 financial year, three political parties made declared qualifying donations, the total value of which was just over R30 million – R30 008 841.74 to be exact.
Value of donations in-kind?
“This Act has introduced a new era of transparency within South Africa’s electoral democracy by, among others, mandating all registered political parties to disclose to the Commission all donations above R100 000 per annum,” says Electoral Commission Chairperson Glen Mashinini. The Act put specific restrictions on sources of funding for political parties, including proscription of donations by government departments, state-owned entities and foreign governments and agencies. Further restrictions have also been put on the amount and purpose for which foreign entities can make direct donations to registered political parties. Which parties made declarations? “Two represented political parties and one unrepresented political
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Municipal Focus
“Of the total amount declared across the three political parties, total value of donations in-kind is R855 685.41, made of R499 595.15 for the DA and R356 090.26 for ActionSA. No in-kind donation was received and declared by the ANC,” Mahlangu he adds. Donations from foreign sources Two foreign entities made direct donations to their political parties of choice during this period. It is worth reporting that the donations were compliant with requirements set out in section 8 (4) of the Act, that such donations must only be for the purposes of “training or skills development of a member of a political party; or policy development by a political party”. There was therefore no breach or contravention of the Act detected in this regard. The Commission can therefore confirm that there is generally a fair level of understanding and compliance with what the Act seeks to achieve.
George Mahlangu, the Electoral Commission’s Chief Executive: Party Funding
How was compliance encouraged? Electoral Commission Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo indicates that all registered political parties, both represented and unrepresented, were sent constant reminders to submit their declarations before the due date of 31 July 2021. “Although not all political parties responded, a significant number of them, especially among the represented parties, reported in writing that they did not receive qualifying donations, i.e., donations above the threshold amount of R100 000,” he adds. Did all parties and donors submit qualifying declarations as required by section 9 of the Act? Section 9 of the Act requires that both political parties receiving donation and their donors (if a juristic person or entity) must declare such donations.
