This month, parliament dismantled political party funding transparency laws by passing the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill. The bill was introduced at the end of 2023 to amend several laws to allow independent candidates to contest elections. In a show of political expediency, the bill was also used to undermine the Political Party Funding Act (PPFA).
The introduction of the bill brought life to the ANC’s two-year campaign to weaken political party transparency laws, launched out of sheer desperation, amid the party’s financial crisis. In February 2023, the party’s leadership instructed its parliamentarians to initiate the process to expand the thresholds for party funding stipulated in the PPFA. The campaign was yet another show of the ANC’s increasing disregard for democracy.
The PPFA is one of the most important pieces of legislation since 1996. It allows the public access to crucial funding information, limits the ability of private entities to influence our politics for narrow interests and protects South Africa’s sovereignty. It forces political parties and their donors to disclose donations above R100 000, places an annual cap of R15 million per donor per party and places heavy limitations on foreign funding. ….more
