Electoral Commission publishes fourth Quarter Disclosure Report for the 2022-23 financial year in terms of the Political Party Funding Act and Regulations
1 June 2023
The Electoral Commission presents the fourth quarter Political Party Funding Disclosure Report for the financial year 2022/23, covering the period of 1 January – 31 March 2023. This is the eighth report since the promulgation and coming into effect of the Political Party Funding Act on 1 April 2021.
Poignantly, this instalment of the party funding declarations report comes a few weeks after the publication of the first ever Political Party Funding Annual Report for the financial year which ended 31 March 2022. The Annual Report was published on 16 May 2023.
In order to obviate any ambiguities, it is important that a clear distinction is made between the said Annual Report and the various quarterly disclosure reports. While the Annual Report is issued once at the end of the financial year, typically between December and June following the completion of an audit process by the Auditor-General, the quarterly disclosure reports are published during the months of August, November, February and May each year.
Total value of donations declared
In the fourth quarter of the 2022/23 financial year, three (3) political parties made declarations amounting to R5 985 983.83 (five million nine hundred and eighty-five thousand nine hundred and eighty-three rand and eighty-three cents). Of this amount, a donation of R496 880.00 (four hundred and ninety-six thousand eight hundred and eighty rand) is a late declaration made and received during the third quarter.
Political parties that have made declarations
One (1) unrepresented and two (2) represented political parties reported donations during the quarter.
The ActionSA, which is an unrepresented party, reported a donation of R3 730 000, while the African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance disclosed R1 996 880 and R259 103.83 respectively.
ActionSA’s donations were received from three different donors, all of which are individual rather than corporate donors. The individual donors are Dr BB Mabizela (R105 000), Chris Du Toit (R125 000) and Martin Moshal (R3 500 000). Martin Moshal is a repeat donor to ActionSA who has previously made donations to the same party valued at R11 000 000.
The ANC’s two donations were received from an entity called Ichikowitz Family Foundation (R1 500 000) and another entity called Education and Training Unit for Democracy and Development (ETU) (R496 880). The former is a Johannesburg-based entity founded in 2010, and the latter is a non-profit organisation that offers training, facilitation, materials development and strategic planning services. ETU’s donation was an in-kind donation in the form of payment to printers towards the cost of 10 000 copies of the ANC National Policy Conference Discussion Documents.
The DA’s two donations were received from two different entities. The first one is a repeat international donor, Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF), which made an in-kind donation valued at R139 103.83. The second donor is an entity known as Polyoak Packaging (Pty) Ltd, with a monetary donation of R120 000. The latter is a South African business entity that specialises in the design and manufacture of rigid plastic packaging for food, beverage and industrial applications. The donor has previously made a donation of the same amount to the party.
Foreign donations
The only foreign donation made was to the DA by Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) to the value indicated above. Prior to the current donation, the FNF made a total donation of R2 787 041.03 to the DA in the current financial year. Cumulatively, therefore, the aggregate value of foreign donations made by FNF to DA is R2 926 144.86.
Late declarations
One political party, the ANC, has submitted a late declaration valued at R496 880. This donation was received by the party during the third quarter and should therefore have been declared in quarter 3 for publication at the end of the same quarter.
The party has been issued with a direction in terms of section 15 of the Act requesting the submission of written reasons why the declaration was submitted later than the regulated deadline.
Multi-Party Democracy Fund (MPDF)
For the current quarter, no contributions to the Multi-Party Democracy Fund (MPDF) were received. The Commission will continue to engage individuals and entities, and it is hoped that with the 2024 elections fast approaching, South African corporates will realise the importance of supporting multi-party democracy through funding of political parties.
Non-compliance with the provisions of the Act
The Commission is withholding quarterly disbursements to three political parties on account of non-compliance with the requirements of the Act. These withheld disbursements relate to funding from both the Represented Political Parties Fund (RPPF) and the Multi-Party Democracy Fund (MPDF). The affected parties are the African Independence Congress (AIC) (R6 946 664,51), the National Freedom Party (NFP) (R6 038 810,45) and Congress of the People (COPE) (R2 237 599,76). Currently, the Commission has in its coffers an amount of R15 223 075 withheld from these parties.
The primary reason for withholding funding is that these parties have not submitted financial statements as required by the law. The prescripts provide for the forfeiture of such funds only after the end of the political term of office, particularly if a party fails to retain or gain any seats in either the provincial or national legislature.
Conclusion
This quarterly disclosure report represents the final instalment for the financial year 2022/23 and thus allows the computation of cumulative reported donations to political parties. The unaudited amount of direct donations to political parties is approximately R134 million. This is marginally short of the 2021/22 audited figure of R145 million.
Issued by Kate Bapela on behalf of IEC, 1 June 2023
