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IEC ready for Party Funding Act’s implementation: Mamabolo

Voting IEC
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Electoral Commission Chief Executive Officer Sy Mamabolo says the Political Party Funding Act that is due to come into force on April 1 will not be an instant success and will require political parties to adapt.

The Act, which has been hard-fought for by civil society organisations over the years, provides for political parties to receive state and private funding for their activities.

The Act demands transparency regarding private funding.

Mamabolo says the Independent Electoral Commission has done all it can to be ready for the Act’s implementation.

“We have trained them on the ICT tool that we have preferred which will be used for purposes of disclosures. We have trained them on the content of the Act and the regulations and there have been a lot of discussions between ourselves and the political parties. They have raised some concerns,  concerns may require possible amendments in future but we are comfortable that we did everything to avail the information to parties to put them in a position where they could comply.”

Political Analyst Somadoda Fikeni speaks on whether the Act will provide for efficient regulation of campaign financing: 

 

Concerns about the Act

On Tuesday, the leader of  One South Africa Movement, Mmusi Maimane called for the review of the Act.  Maimane said the Political Funding Act in its current form only makes allowance for political parties, which has disadvantaged independents in previous local government elections.

“One of the key limitations about why independents have not done well in the past is because they are financially inhibited not many of them have got money I think the most powerful thing about letting independents stand. I always say to people in a party you buy one, you get the whole party for free whereas with independents even if people look at the issue of corruption you are dealing with an individual which means you can hold them to account at source and deal with the person.

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