Vision and Principles
We strive for a democracy where every person has equal influence in all the decisions that affect them.
Democracy:
We believe in a democracy where every adult has equal power to influence decisions that affect them.
Transparency and Accountability:
We believe that the electorate should have access to all information that they need to exercise their political rights and make political choices from an informed position. We believe that political parties, decision-makers, and public representatives should openly share all necessary public information timeously and in accessible formats for all.
Social Justice:
We believe that power should be equally shared and that social mobility barriers should be removed.
People’s Power:
We believe that people must lead the drive for ensuring their rights are met, and we support popular participation, the building of grassroots organisation, and equipping all people with tools to hold public representatives to account, and to be part of decision-making.
History
My Vote Counts (MVC) emerged out of campaigns by South African civil society, in 2012, that aimed to address the scourge of corruption and the hollowing out of South Africa’s democracy.
It was launched as a public campaign in that year to advocate for an electoral system that utilises both proportional representation and constituency-based representation and to instigate increased transparency and openness in political party funding. Both campaigns garnered traction and have contributed towards shaping the future of politics and democracy in South Africa.
In 2016 MVC registered as a Non-Profit Organisation. In that year MVC successfully challenged the constitutionality of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) and influenced the development of the Political Party Funding Act (PPFA). PAIA was amended in 2019 and the PPFA and an amended PAIA came into operation in 2021. In 2024, the Electoral Matters Amendment Act (EMAA) was passed to enact several signifcant changes to South Africa’s electoral system. The EMAA renamed the PPFA as the Political Funding Act (PFA), in recognition of the fact that, following the changes introduced by the EMAA, it now regulates the private funding of both political parties and independent candidates.
The PPFA came into effect in April 2021 and has proven to be one of the most important pieces of legislation in South Africa’s democracy. It is also the first piece
of legislation that governs the internal workings of political parties. It provides a transparency framework for political party finances and, importantly, limits private influence in the country’s politics. The enactment of the legislation has taken the work of MVC, as a social justice organisation, to a new phase of its life cycle.
In this context in 2021, MVC has broadened its vision to one that focuses on deepening democracy, public transparency and accountability, social justice, and building people’s power. MVC, thus, has three streams of work: Political Party Funding, Electoral Systems, as well as Inter and Intra-Party Democracy. We carry out these streams through research, political education, campaigning, and, as a last resort, litigation.
Our Team

Minhaj Jeenah
Executive Director
Minhaj joined MVC in 2021. If you happen to join him on a Zoom meeting, you’ll probably need to speak over the voices of his two boundaryless little kids.
His interests are in participatory democracy, popular education and political alternatives.
He is also a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Fellowship on Racial Equity and has worked in the social justice sector for 10-ish years. Before MVC, he was the National Coordinator of the Fight Inequality Alliance – a growing alliance of social movements and NGOs organising in 30 countries.
And the head of the political education unit at the learner-led social movement, Equal Education. He also has ambitions of giving life to a progressive media channel following his 2023 launch of Voices of Da City, a documentary-style podcast series exploring the intersection between race, resistance and hip-hop in Cape Town.

Joel Bregman
Project Lead: Money in Politics
Joel joined MVC in 2018 and his current focus area is Money in Politics. Since MVC was founded in 2012, much of its work has been to understand the impact of money in politics and to advocate for and then strengthen political funding legislation. In 2025, he will be leading MVC’s litigation challenging the Political Funding Act and will conduct research to propose a model for the funding of South Africa’s politics. His previous work at MVC has focused on intra-party democracy in South African political parties and the impact on its democracy and governance. In 2024, he wrote a position paper on the proposed legislation to govern municipal coalitions, focusing on the impact this would have on people’s political rights. Joel worked at the Social Justice Coalition from 2010 until 2016 and worked briefly for #UniteBehind. He received a Master’s degree in Historical Studies from the University of Cape Town and studied history, politics, and film in his undergrad.

Boikanyo Moloto
Project Lead: Political Systems
Boikanyo Moloto is the Political Systems Researcher at My Vote Counts. She holds an MA in Industrial Sociology (Cum Laude). Her academic interests include gender studies, violence and conflict, strengthening legislatures and capacity, labour law, and the lived experiences of workers.
Boikanyo was previously affiliated to the Centre for Social Change. She continued her career as a Researcher and Young Emerging Evaluator (YEE) at the Center for Learning on Evaluation and Results – Anglophone Africa, later serving as Research Co-ordinator and representing the organisation on the African Parliamentarians’ Network on Development Evaluation (APNODE) Executive Committee.
More recently, she served as an Urban Violence Researcher and Project Manager at the CSVR, with a focus on violence, violence prevention, democracy, social cohesion, youth inclusion, and governance. Her goal is to use academia as a catalyst to contribute towards effective, context-specific, social change.

Keamogetswe Seipato
Campaigns Lead
Keamogetswe Seipato is a social justice activist and feminist. She is extremely passionate about deconstructing systems of oppression, questioning everything, grappling with anything, and changing society as a whole. Sharing and creating information and knowledge with those who are affected by how the political economy of the world and Southern Africa works, coupled with inspiration for establishing the means to tackle patriarchal capitalism is a key element of her activism.

Nosiphelo Mahola
Finance and Operations Officer
Nosiphelo Mahola is self-driven and passionate about working with finances. She has been working in the financial administration environment since 2011 and her years of working have made her a team player and a game changer. She has several qualifications in finance and business and is currently completing her Bachelor in Business Administration.
When not working she enjoys reading books on African literature, long-distance running, and hiking mountain trails to discover hidden gems.

Lauren Gildenhuys
Research & Campaigns Intern
Lauren holds a BSocSc LLB (UCT) and an MSc in Political Theory (LSE). She is interested in democratic theory and praxis, South African politics, social and critical theory, political organization, and capitalist critique. Prior to completing her MSc and joining MVC, she practiced as a commercial litigation attorney.
She hopes to use her time at MVC to conduct socially impactful research that fosters grassroots civic empowerment and engagement, strengthens democratic institutions, and contributes in some small way to achieving a more egalitarian and just South Africa.

Elisha Kunene
Project Lead: Participatory Democracy
Elisha Kunene joined MVC in September 2024. He is a recovering lawyer and a fully rehabilitated competitive debater. His interests are in participatory democracy, deliberative systems, constitutional design, electoral law, public education, progressive organising and distributive justice. His early work at MVC focuses on coalitions, internal party democracy, governance, and electoral law.
He holds a BSocSc LLB (UKZN). Before moving to Cape Town, he completed 3 judicial clerkships and trained under the Land Rights and Dispute Resolution team of Richard Spoor Inc. He still podcasts about judicial administration in his spare time.
Our Board

Amanda Rinquest (Chairperson)

Zukiswa Kota

Dr Trevor Ngwane

Khaya Sithole (Treasurer)

Tyronne McCrindle

Dr Kudrat Virk
Our Current Donor Partners

2022-2024
R2 250 000,00

2023
R510 000,00

2023-2026
R2 528 252,00

2023-2026
R5 700 000,00

2023-2026
R2 353 252,00

2023-2024
R 300 000,00
*Disclaimer: As an NGO, My Vote Counts’ funds comes from a diverse range of sources. Our donors have no material influence on our work and we are able to operate independently from these donors.