We know who donates to SA’s political parties — but who really pays?
The Political Funding Act has failed to provide transparency as to who is donating money to the various political parties. What is needed is mandatory, proactive disclosure of beneficial ownership information to ensure voters can track actual political influence ahead of elections.
The Political Funding Act (PFA) aimed to provide transparency in political party funding, but it has fallen short in this aspect. The Independent Electoral Commission's (IEC) Quarterly Declarations Report, which is supposed to disclose donor information, often leaves questions unanswered. Two recent examples are the We Are The People and Kerry Road Trust donations.
We Are The People turned a R30-million loan to Rise Mzansi into a donation, but the source of the money remains unclear. Kerry Road Trust, which donated R2.5-million to the Democratic Alliance (DA), is a trust registered in Australia, raising concerns about whether the donation complies with the PFA's restrictions on foreign donations.
The issue lies in the lack of beneficial ownership information (BOI) in the IEC's report. This lack of transparency prevents voters from identifying the individuals or entities truly behind the political donations. The Constitutional Court's 2018 ruling emphasized the importance of disclosing such information to ensure meaningful political participation. However, five years after the PFA's implementation, the question of who truly funds our political parties remains unanswered.
Written by urgent.news from Daily Maverick's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
