ActionSA Welcomes Start of Party Funding Act
1 April 2021
ActionSA marks the first day of the Political Party Funding Act by a public affirmation of our commitment to abide by the letter and spirit of this important legislation.
While we note that political parties in Parliament have used their position to ensure the Act benefits parties represented in the National Assembly, the Act was borne of a well-intentioned, if not naïve, desire to further the democratic principle of ensuring transparency.
However, the implementation of the Party Funding Act is not without risk, no matter the noble intention of creating transparency, it could in fact in time lead to our vibrant multi-party democracy being undermined.
This is because the Act, through its disclosure and other requirements will likely disproportionately and negatively impact opposition parties and favour a dominant governing party.
Afterall, it is worth remembering that the countless revelations of state capture, we have witnessed through the commission all began with capturing the ANC as a political party.
ActionSA, learning from this and other experiences, has approved internal policies that expressly prohibit any strings being attached to a donation to the Party and that fundraising will be undertaken at the highest ethical standards.
Naturally, we remain concerned that political parties that have demonstrated a penchant for corruption will continue to fund their parties through corrupt means.
Such parties will have little regard for the provisions of the Political Party Funding Act given their willingness to fund their organisations through criminal activities.
Notwithstanding this, ActionSA is a political party committed to the rule of law.
We commit ourselves to this value not just in external communications, but also through our own actions internally.
We stand by this commitment to the South African people, and hope that despite past experience and the reservations we hold, that the values of transparency and accountability will be valuable in the war against corruption.
Issued by Michael Beaumont, ActionSA Chairperson, 31 March 2021
