A recent report from the non-profit organisation My Vote Counts (MVC), that examines the financial situation of South African political parties, has issued a critical warning about political party funding in the country.

The report has revealed that the ANC and DA together received 73% from the public purse during the last financial year.

MVC has raised concerns regarding transparency, accountability, and the equitable distribution of public funds within South Africa’s political landscape.

The concerns are based on an analysis of the 2023-2024 Annual Political Party Funding Report published by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).

The MVC report indicates a “major pre-election cash flood” preceding last year’s general elections, detailing the public and private funds received by various parties.

Political parties collectively raked in R3.242 billion in public and private funding, a substantial increase from the R2.03 billion received in the prior reporting period.

Of this amount, the ANC received R1.7 billion and the DA R645 million from combined public and private sources. 

However, the MVC’s detailed breakdown reveals a concerning concentration of public funds, according to the funding watchdog. 

Of the IEC’s total disbursement from the Represented Political Party Fund (RPPF), a vast majority of R622,300,989 came from taxpayers. 

From these IEC-linked pots, the ANC received over R285 million, the DA more than R120 million, and the EFF over R78 million.

Beyond the IEC allocations, further public funding flows from the National Assembly and provincial legislatures, the report read. 

According to the report, the ANC received an additional R905 million from taxpayers, with the DA and EFF receiving over R310 million and R179-million respectively. 

This means the public purse is doing “substantial heavy lifting for party finances,” according to the MVC.

The MVC report further exposes gaps in the disclosure of private funding. The watchdog points out that only about a third of parties’ private funding sources are known, and there is almost no information on parties’ lending activities, “other income” streams, and spending habits (only expenditure of the IEC allocation is required to be disclosed).

A particularly alarming revelation concerns the ANC’s private funding. The report notes that an “alarming proportion” of the ANC’s private funding is categorised as “other income,” leaving the public “largely in the dark about the sources of its private funds”.

The ANC disclosed a whopping R413,469,406 in this “other income” category, meaning 78% of its private funding for the reporting period originated there, with no indication of the source.

President Cyril Ramaphosa recently proclaimed to double the disclosure threshold and upper donation cap to R200,000 and R30 million respectively.

The MVC warns that this move puts South Africa “at risk of returning to an era of greater secrecy in party funding,” pushing more political money into the shadows.

The report also highlights concerns about loans to political parties potentially serving as a loophole to evade disclosure requirements. 

The MVC notes that South Africa lacks regulations requiring parties to disclose the source of large financial loans, unlike jurisdictions such as Canada.

The group points to a R60 million “loan” to the EFF and a R22.1 million “loan” to Rise Mzansi, the details of which remain unknown.

The MVC concludes that it’s “almost impossible to determine the true costs of running a political party, campaigning, and so on, because parties are not required to report on how they spent the majority of the funds they received”.

It said the ANC’s historical position on political party funding has been inconsistent, publicly advocating for greater transparency while taking actions to allow for greater secrecy.

“The State must fully fund the activities of all political parties as part of funding democracy, and protecting the independence, transparency, accountability and integrity of political parties,” the ANC said.

 The DA has presented a consistent public stance in favor of transparency and stricter regulation of political party funding, often contrasting itself with the ANC’s position.

Political analyst Dr John Molepo commented on these findings saying that the disproportionate allocation of public funds to the two largest parties creates an uneven playing field. 

“While it’s understandable that parties with greater representation receive more, this concentration risks stifling emerging political alternatives and entrenches the dominance of the status quo,” he said.

“It also places an even greater onus on these dominant parties to demonstrate absolute transparency and accountability, given the significant taxpayer,” he said.

He said this lack of transparency undermined public trust and made it difficult to assess potential undue influence on political decision-making.

mashudu.sadike@inl.co.za

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