There has been a notable increase in the number of political parties making declarations in terms of the Political Party Fund Act, compared to the first and second quarters of the 2021/22 financial year.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Electoral Commission (IEC) said in the third quarter of the 2021/22 financial year, 11 political parties made declarations totalling R46 036 589.97, in terms of section 9 of the Act.
“The number of declarations has shown a noticeable increase in the third quarter. The Commission believes that this is partly a reflection of an improved understanding and wider acceptance of the Act and the need for greater transparency with regard to political party funding,” the Commission said.
In the two preceding quarters, only three and six parties, respectively, made declarations.
Noting the increase in declarations, the Commission said it would like to see this trend continuing.
“…It is important to recognise that this period coincided with an election period, i.e., the 2021 Local Government Elections. There seems to be a positive correlation between the number and size of donations on one hand, and the election period on the other.
“There is also a pattern of donors making donations to different parties in more or less the same way that the Multiparty Democracy Fund (MPDF) is intended to operate. Donors such as Harmony Gold Mining Company, African Rainbow Minerals, South African Breweries (SAB) and 3Sixty Health are among the corporates that made donations to multiple parties,” the IEC said.
Out of the total declarations made, four were made by unrepresented and seven by represented parties.
The unrepresented parties are:
- Abantu Integrity Movement (AIM) – R100 000.00
- ActionSA – R5 072 348.50
- Patriotic Alliance (PA) – R430 000.00
- Shosholoza Progressive Party – R150 000.00
The represented parties are:
- African National Congress (ANC) – R22 803 969.00
- African Transformation Movement (ATM) – R200 000.00
- Democratic Alliance (DA) – R12 519 623.47
- Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) – R3 148 176.00
- Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) – R484 438.00
- GOOD – R340 447.00
- Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) – R787 588.00
Funds declared
According to the Commission, the cumulative amount declared in the third quarter is R46 036 589.97.
“This amount is greater than the R30 008 841.74 declared in the first quarter, but short of the R56 880 644.47 declared in the second quarter. A total value of in-kind donations declared is R5 679 086.97. The total value of monetary donations, on the other hand, is R40 357 503.00,” the IEC said.
ActionSA is the party with the largest amount of in-kind donations declared, amounting to R4 922 348.50.
“Of this amount, a total of R4 212 340.50 was made by a single donor in the form of personal protective equipment (PPE) comprising face masks, hand sanitizers, face shields, etc. In this regard, face masks accounted for the largest proportion of the value of in-kind donations, totalling R3 000 000.
“The largest amount of a single monetary donation declared is the R15 000 000 donated by Batho Batho Trust and declared by the ANC. Furthermore, the ANC is the party with the largest value of donations declared amounting to R22 803 969.00, followed by the DA at R12 519 623.47, ActionSA at R5 072 348.50 and EFF at R3 148 176.00. The rest of the parties declared total donations that fell below R1 million,” the IEC said.
Foreign donations
Two political parties, ActionSA and DA, made declarations of donations from foreign sources.
“The combined value of these foreign donations is R1 370 191.47. The DA received the largest amount of foreign donations totalling R840 191.47, followed by ActionSA at R530 000.00.
“The foreign donation received by ActionSA was received from the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), a German political party foundation and was used for production of training material for candidates and elected councillors, localised policy manifestos and handbooks. This usage of foreign donations is compliant with the provisions of the Act,” the IEC said.
In respect of the DA, three separate foreign donations were received from a single donor, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF), also a German foundation, which has made donations to the DA in the previous two quarters.
“To date, cumulative donations of R1 284 526.94 have been made by the FNF to the DA, of which R329 400.00 was monetary and the balance was in-kind. The cumulative amount falls within the stipulated maximum of R5 million by any foreign donor to a single party and has been used for training and skills development. Based on the information declared, the foreign donations are compliant with the Act and the regulations,” the IEC said.
Multi-Party Democracy Fund (MPDF)
In addition to the R2 000 that was received from Paul Malcolm Graham during first quarter, the Multi-Party Democracy Fund (MPDF) received contributions of R5 005 000.00 during the third quarter.
This makes the total value of contributions to the MPDF R5 007 000.00 to date.
“The largest contribution, totalling R5 million, was made by one of the largest telecommunications company in the country, Vodacom.
“The Commission is exceptionally grateful to all those that responded to the call for supporting multi-party democracy and made contributions to the Fund. We call on other corporates to make contributions to the MPDF to strengthen multi-party democracy in the country,” the IEC said.
Source: South African Government News Agency