/ 17 December 2012

Phosa encourages members to donate salaries to ANC

ANC treasurer general Matthews Phosa.
ANC treasurer general Matthews Phosa.

Even though the ANC amassed a whopping R1.49-billion in revenue since its Polokwane elective conference in 2007, the ruling party wants cadres deployed in government to help raise more funds, and even donate part of their salary to the movement.

This controversial call was made by ANC treasurer general Matthews Phosa in his financial report, which he delivered at the party's electoral congress in Mangaung on Sunday

"The ANC, like other parties all over the world, should make maximum use of some of our cadres deployed in government and legislature positions that allow them to contribute to various areas of organisational work," the report reads.

The document reveals how R1.06-billion was raised through unspecified fundraising since Polokwane – the largest component of party funding.

A grant of R218-million from the Independent Electoral Commission for the same period accounted for the second highest contribution.

Activities from the ANC's progressive business forum added a further R88.4-million to the party's coffers, making it the third largest contributor to revenue.

The report  also urges the party to be more circumspect in the use of its funds, in spite of this being the highest revenue the party has ever raised between elective conferences.

Phosa's report calls on the ANC to "reduce operational costs drastically" in order to ensure the movement can "sustain itself".

It also bemoaned the number of staff the organisation had in its employ – which as of March 2012 stood at over 130 000 – arguing the party needed to reduce this number.

The party is considering a wide range of of extra funding opportunities to generate further income for the ANC. These include the possibility of in-house life and bereavement insurance, as well as endowment polices being made available to members in partnership with an underwriter.

Another touted method of extra funding is a loyalty programme that members could access when purchasing goods at major retailers ranging from Makro to Pick n Pay.

Other suggestions included partnering with telecommunications companies to provide airtime to ruling party members and formalising efforts to capitalise on revenue streams earned from the sale of ANC merchandise.

The report concludes that while the ANC's financial performance "could have been better", but that the party is on a "sound financial footing".