DESPITE THE LACUNA IN OUR PARTY FUNDING LAWS FOR THIS DISCLOSURE PERIOD, THERE HAS BEEN COMPLIANCE WITH THE PFA

 

Last Friday the Electoral Commission released the newest set of funding disclosures under the Political Funding Act (PFA). The disclosures cover the period from 1 April to 30 June 2024. This is the first set of disclosures for the 2024/25 financial year, and the 13th set of disclosures since the PFA came into operation in April 2021. Collectively, parties disclosed almost R190m for this period. This represents the greatest amount of donations in a quarter and is to be expected, given that this was the first disclosure period for a general election.

Compliance under the PFA

While there are some things noteworthy in the disclosures such as the first disclosure from the MK Party, many of the donors have donated previously and there are no new substantial insights in terms of the private funding landscape. Of greater significance is that, despite there being a lacuna in the law from 8 May to 16 August, it appears that there was compliance with the PFFA during this period.

As the Electoral Commission (IEC) explain, on 31 July 2024, it convened a meeting with the National Party Liaison Committee, where it was agreed to that, ‘represented political parties would continue to declare their donations in accordance with the pre-amendment limits and thresholds. This was the case even though, strictly speaking, there were no legal determined thresholds for disclosure’. On the face of it, it is deeply encouraging that parties respected and upheld the principle of transparency and accountability even as the law obligating them to do so was not in effect.

We trust  that if there was non-compliance during this period, the IEC will take the necessary action to address this.

The lacuna in the PFA

On 8 May 2024, when the Electoral Matters Amendment Act became law, the annual upper limit of R15m and the disclosure threshold of R100k were immediately removed. The immediate impact of this was that parties could take donations of any amount, and there was no legal requirement to disclose. This rendered the law virtually meaningless, creating a ‘party funding free-for- and, on a practical and constitutional level, created a dangerous gap in our legislative framework. To address this, in May MVC approached the Western Cape High Court seeking urgent relief to close this legislative lacuna. Following an initial judgment in the matter delivered on 27 May, that made a  prima facie finding that a legal lacuna existed, MVC wrote to political parties informing them of the judgment. In the letter, we stressed that, (a) accepting any donation above the R 15 million upper limit is unlawful; (b) the failure to record and disclose any donation is unlawful; (c) any funds received in contravention of the upper limit will be required to be returned; and (d) such donations are being accepted and spent at the political parties’ risk.

Final judgment was delivered on 16 August, finding that there was indeed a lacuna since 8 May, and granted the relief we sought, by ordering the immediate reinstatement of the annual upper limit and the disclosure threshold.

Encouraging signs that there is a commitment to transparency

The lacuna that was created in the law was a serious legislative misstep. While MVC cannot say with certainty that these disclosures represent the entirety of what should have been disclosed, it is clear that there has been compliance and parties must be commended for their commitment to democracy. The proactive role that the IEC took to ensure that there was continued compliance during the lacuna period must also be applauded.

 

View the latest donations and analyse all declarations made under the PFA with our online tool, Whose Vote Counts.

 

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