Electoral Commission issues the Party Funding’s First Quarter Disclosure Report for the 2023-24 Financial Year

31 August 2023

The Electoral Commission presents the first quarter Political Party Funding Disclosure Report for the financial year 2023/24. This report covers the period of 1 April 2023 to 30 June 2023. It is the ninth report since the Party Funding Act came into operation.

Donations declaration

Four political parties made funding declarations during the first quarter of the current fiscal year. The value of donations is significantly higher for the reporting period in comparison to previous quarters. Pertinently, the value of declared donations is the second highest of the nine reported to date.

Total value of declared donations

The total amount declared by the four (4) political parties is R 58 365 321.09 (fifty-eight million three hundred and sixty-five thousand three hundred and twenty-one rand and nine cents) for the reporting quarter. This total amount includes a late donations declaration of R 1 300 000.00 (one million three hundred thousand), which consists of three separate donations received by a particular party during the third and fourth quarters of the previous financial year.

Political parties that made declarations

The four political parties that made declarations during the reporting quarter are ActionSA, African National Congress (ANC), Democratic Alliance (DA) and a newly registered Build One South Africa (BOSA).

The salient features of the declared donations are as follows:

The highest declared donation is R 22 901 161.09 (twenty-two million nine hundred and one thousand one hundred and sixty-one rand and nine cents) and was made by the DA.

The second highest declaration is made by the ANC. The declared amount is R 20 000 000 (twenty million rand).

ActionSA made the third highest declaration of R 12 164 160.00 (twelve million one hundred and sixty-four thousand one hundred and sixty rand).

Build One SA, a newly registered political party, made a declaration of R 2 000 000 (two million rand), plus a late declaration of R 1 300 000.

The bulk of the DA’s donation was received from an entity known as Fynbos Ekwiteit (Pty) Ltd (R 15 000 000). The entity has over the last two financial years made significant donations to the same party.

In addition to Fynbos Ekwiteit (Pty) Ltd, DA’s two other significant donations were received from an entity called Main Street 1564 at R 5 million and an individual known as Mr G Ryan at R 2 million.

As regards donations to the ANC, two-thirds was received from Batho Batho Trust at R 15 million and the remainder was received from Chancellor House Trust at R 5 million. Both these entities are regular donors to the party.

ActionSA’s largest (60%) donation was received from an individual known as Victoria Freudenheim at R 7,2 million, who has previously made a significant donation to the same party. Two other large donations of R 2 million each were received from an entity known as Solomon David Group (Pty) Ltd. The other coming from the party leader, Mr Herman Mashaba made in two tranches. Style Eyes of California (Pty) Ltd, another regular donor to the party, made a notable donation of R 700 000 during the reporting quarter.

The newly registered Build One SA received its only declared donation of R 2 000 000 from Mr Martin Paul Moshal.

Late Declarations

Three late declarations totalling R 1 300 000 were reported. All the donations were reported by the new entrant, Build One SA, and they relate to the third and fourth quarters of the 2022/23 financial year.

The three donations were received from individuals known as Hlumelo Biko (R200 000), Robert B Hersov (R100 000) and an entity called RTH Investments (Pty) Ltd (R 1 000 000). The donation by Hlumelo Biko, previously reported as the Chief Executive of the party, was made in December 2022 and should have been declared in January 2023. The other two donations were received in January and March 2023, and should have been declared in April 2023.

In respect of this late declaration, Build One SA was issued a direction in terms of section 15 of the Act, and a representation was made by the party. Furthermore, as a newly registered political party, Build One SA officials were also afforded detailed training on the Party Funding Act. This is intended to empower the party in the workings of the party funding prescripts and also as a way of obviating future transgressions due to a lack of understanding of the legislative requirements.

Foreign and In-kind Donations

Only one foreign donation totalling R 221 161.09 was declared. This was a donation received by the DA from one of the party’s regular donors, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF).

The FNF’s donation was the only in-kind donation declared during the reporting quarter. The donation was made towards the cost of several training workshops for members of the DA, including the party’s youth and women organisations. The specified programmes are DA Youth Cape Metro Training; DA Fundraising Training Workshop; Strategic Planning for Political Parties Training; and Empowering Women in Politics – A Leadership Workout Training. This donation is compliant with the requirements for foreign donations.

The declared donations amounting to more than R 57 million during the first quarter of the current financial year is a significant amount when compared with previous quarters. This is the second largest amount declared, out of nine, since the implementation of the Party Funding Act. The highest was R 60.2 million declared in the second quarter of the previous financial year.

Find the report at: https://results.elections.org.za/home/downloads/party-funding-reports.

Issued by Kate Bapela on behalf of IEC, 31 August 2023