The African National Congress (ANC) has resolved that the recently published Political Party Funding Act must be reviewed.
The Act stipulates that parties must disclose all donations above R100 000 to the Electoral Commission each quarter.
The governing party says as much as the Act has good intentions of openness, it has some unintended consequences.
ANC Rapporteur for the Economic Transformation and Finance and Sustainability Commission, Joe Maswangayi, says their conventional donors are no longer interested because of the Act.
The Political Party Funding Act amongst other things stipulates that parties disclose all donations received above R100 000 whether in cash or kind to the IEC and has a threshold of R15 million from a single donor.
It says parties cannot accept funding from foreign governments and agencies, government departments, or state-owned entities, except for training and policy development.
ANC Commissions report on their progress:
In October 2022, ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe lamented the limitations of the Act and said it needs further review.
Mabe says, “We’ve got a problem of over 80 million that we need to sort out for Provident funds, we need to deal with our recurring salary problems. A number of things have got to happen, you have to alter policy to allow for you to continue to operate, not just for the ANC, for all other political parties…”
“Remember, funding political parties is important to sustain our own democratic dispensation,” added Mabe.
Political Party Funding Act under scrutiny:
