Our Response to the ANC Briefing on the Regulation of Political Party Funding

19 May 2017

My Vote Counts (MVC) welcomes the ANC’s steps towards addressing the regulation of private political party funding. The proposal to set up an ad hoc committee in Parliament to deal with this issue comes at a time when our democracy faces a crisis of corruption, state capture, and 'money politics'. MVC will work with any Parliamentary process that aims to bring meaningful reform that promotes transparency and a more diverse and robust democratic climate. We believe this proposal is a vital, long-overdue step to addressing the corruptive influence of money in our politics. Parliament first committed to address this issue in 1997, and has missed many opportunities to enact reforms since then.

We therefore welcome Mr Mthembu’s statement that the Ad Hoc committee should complete its enquiry by December 2017. We cannot accept a process that drags on and delays the inevitable any further. It is vital that full regulations are in place well before the 2019 elections, so that these elections take place in an environment that has transparent and regulated private political party funding.

MVC has long called on the South African parliament and the Department of Justice and Correctional Affairs to enact legislation to regulate political party funding in South Africa.

Currently all major political parties refuse to disclose who funds them. After many attempts to get political parties to disclose their funders to the public, MVC has been forced to go to court to challenge the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) for failing to provide access to information on the funding of political parties. This case is set down to be heard on 15 and 16 August 2017.

MY VOTE COUNTS is a civil society organisation aimed at improving the accountability, transparency and inclusiveness of elections and politics in South Africa.

Statement issued by Janine Ogle, Coordinator: My Vote Counts, 19 May 2017