Let’s face it — political corruption in South Africa has reached epidemic proportions. Every day we are finding out just how our elected leaders have been shamelessly taking what is rightfully ours. If anything, the State Capture Inquiry reveals, but yet also confirms, our fears of theft and bribery which some say nearly cost the country its independence. There are however mechanisms that can be put in place to curb the instances of corruption on all levels. This is what the Political Party Funding Bill aims to achieve and we need your help signing a petition telling the President enact it as soon as possible.
Imagine being part of a political party. A wealthy businessman approaches you with some funds. You consider taking the money but there is a catch — you have to award them a lucrative tender without even undergoing a tender selection process. There is the grand chance you accept it, as many in our political space have done countless times.
South Africans are being lead by easily influenced leaders. Is this what we want South Africa to become?
The Political Party Funding Bill seeks to:
- Provide for and regulate the public and private funding of political parties;
- Establish and manage the funds to fund represented political parties sufficiently;
- Prohibit certain donations made directly to political parties;
- Regulate disclosure of funding;
- Provide for the powers and duties of the Electoral Commission;
- Provide for administration fines and create offences and penalties;
- Repeal the Public Funding of Represented Political Parties Act of 1997
In essence, this Bill seeks to put measures in place that not only have political parties disclose their donor information on a regular basis but also regulate it by having the IEC oversee this.
The Constitution states that we have the right to access to information. It also states that not only do we have the right to vote but we have the right to make an informed vote. How can our vote be informed if we don’t have the information to make that vote?
It was the ANC in Parliament that pushed for the speedy processing of this Bill that was passed in July 2018. Now the only thing standing in the way of this Bill becoming law is President Cyril Ramaphosa signing on the dotted line. The longer he waits, the more dubious behaviour can take place behind the backs of the electorate — all while we stare a hotly contested elections in the face.
We’ve set up a petition that we will send to the President himself. All we need is for you and your friends to put your name to the petition and effectively tell the President to not have the Bill collect coffee stains on his desk but to grant us our Constitutional right to information and to cast an informed vote ahead of the elections in 2019.
My Vote Counts NPC is a non-profit company founded to improve the accountability, transparency and inclusiveness of elections and politics in the Republic of South Africa. We work to ensure that the political and electoral systems are open, fair and accountable to the public and that they remain relevant in the changing South African socio-political context.
