Electoral Commission issues the third quarter disclosure report in terms of the Political Party Funding Act and Regulations

Introduction

Following a successful implementation of the Political Party Funding Act No. 6 of 2018 on 1 April 2021, the Commission has thus far issued two quarterly Party Funding Disclosure Reports. The first report was issued on 9 September 2021 and the second one was issued 18 November 2021. Both these reports were met with a high level of interest from political parties themselves, the media, political commentators, academics and members of the public in general.

Today, the Commission is once again delivering another instalment of the Political Party Funding Disclosure Report, the third and penultimate one for the financial year 2021/22. This report covers all qualifying donations declared by political parties for the period of three months between October and December 2021.

Who has made the declaration?

In the third quarter of the 2021/22 financial year, a total of eleven (11) political parties made declarations totalling R 46 036 589.97 in terms of section 9 of the Act. Out of the total declarations made, four (4) were made by unrepresented and seven (7) by represented parties.

The unrepresented parties are:

• Abantu Integrity Movement (AIM) – R 100 000.00

• ActionSA – R 5 072 348.50

• Patriotic Alliance (PA) – R 430 000.00

• Shosholoza Progressive Party – R 150 000.00

The represented parties are:

• African National Congress (ANC) – R 22 803 969.00

• African Transformation Movement (ATM) – R 200 000.00

• Democratic Alliance (DA) – R 12 519 623.47

• Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) – R 3 148 176.00

• Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) – R 484 438.00

• GOOD – R 340 447.00

• Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) – R 787 588.00

The eleven disclosures represent a notable increase in the number of political parties making declarations in comparison to the first and second quarters. In the two preceding quarters, only 3 and 6 parties respectively made declarations. It is noteworthy that three parties, namely, ActionSA, African National Congress (ANC) and Democratic Alliance (DA) have consistently made declarations over the three quarters.

How much was declared?

The cumulative amount declared in the third quarter is R 46 036 589.97. This amount is greater than the R 30 008 841.74 declared in the first quarter, but short of the R 56 880 644.47 declared in the second quarter.

A total value of in-kind donations declared is R 5 679 086.97. The total value of monetary donations, on the other hand, is R 40 357 503.00.

ActionSA is the party with the largest amount of in-kind donations declared, amounting to R 4 922 348.50. 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 R 3 000 000.

The largest amount of a single monetary donation declared is the R 15 000 000 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 R 22 803 969.00, followed by the DA at R 12 519 623.47, ActionSA at R 5 072 348.50 and EFF at R 3 148 176.00. The rest of the parties declared total donations that fell below R 1 million.

Foreign donations

Two political parties, ActionSA and DA, made declarations of donations from foreign sources. The combined value of these foreign donations is R 1 370 191.47. The DA received the largest amount of foreign donations totalling R 840 191.47 followed by ActionSA at R 530 000.00. 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.

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 R 1 284 526.94 have been made by the FNF to the DA, of which R 329 400.00 was monetary and the balance was in-kind. The cumulative amount falls within the stipulated maximum of R 5 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.

Multi-Party Democracy Fund (MPDF)

In addition to the R 2 000 that was received from Mr Paul Malcolm Graham during first quarter, the Multi-Party Democracy Fund (MPDF) received contributions of R 5 005 000.00 during the third quarter. This makes the total value of contributions to the MPDF to be R 5 007 000.00 to date.

The largest contribution, totalling R 5 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.

Key observations

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. While the Commission 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 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.

Should the Commission receive credible information that identifies donations received by any political party that has not been declared, an investigation in terms of the Act will ensue.

Source: Government of South Africa