Political parties gave mixed signals on Friday on their willingness to reveal their sources of private funding. Their views, voiced at a seminar in Centurion, ranged from conditional support for disclosure to calls for a proper inquiry into the matter.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) said it had no policy position on the issue.
Chairman of the ANC’s electoral task team Mohseen Valli Moosa said: ”One has to look at the entire context and the impact of transparency on political funding before one takes a policy decision.”
He pointed out that legislation to promote access to information did not favour ”unfettered” disclosure, and provided for some limitations.
The Institute for Democracy in SA (Idasa) is currently conducting a campaign to obtain details of private funding for political parties by using the Promotion of Access to Information Act.
Researcher Richard Calland told the seminar on Thursday that an Idasa request for such information under the act had met ”a wall of silence” from political parties.
On Friday’s discussion, the New National Party (NNP) supported some form of disclosure but said it could not reveal who had donated money to the party in the past.
”NNP donors made donations to our party on the basis confidentiality and to disclose their identities would be a betrayal of trust,” NNP MP Sheila Camerer said.
The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) condemned the private funding of political parties, particularly when this was done in secret.
”We are of the firm conviction that multiparty democracy is too important to be left to the mercy of private funders,” said Mosebjane Malatsi, PAC secretary of economic affairs and development planning.
”The state should — and must — make budgetary provisions to equally fund political parties to give them an equal chance of convincing and gaining the support of voters.”
Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Raenette Taljaard reiterated her party’s stance that donations from foreign governments should be banned. The DA also wanted all donations above R50 000 from other foreign sources and domestic contributors to be disclosed.
These proposals are contained in the Political Funding of Representative Parties Amendment Bill the DA has tabled in Parliament.
United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa called for an inquiry into the matter, saying the private funding of political parties needed to be regulated. Such funding was legitimate as long as it did not become a coercive factor in political parties.
Holomisa said ruling party patronage should also be addressed.
”We cannot ignore the policy of the ruling party to deploy senior cadres in the boardrooms of big business. This directly influences which political parties will receive funding and which ones won’t.”
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) said it had not yet formulated any policy proposals on the issue of private funding.
IFP MP Peter Smith noted that political parties might have a conflict of interest in adopting a position on the matter.
”We have to look after our interests. What is good for political parties is not necessarily good for democracy.”
The question of whether it was true that private money could buy undue influence had also not been answered.
”We simply don’t know. There are not simple solutions,” Smith said.
The two-day seminar was organised by the Institute for Security Studies, Idasa, the Black Sash and the SA Council of Churches.
Calland told the conference on Thursday that only two parties had responded to his request for information on their funding sources.
The Federal Alliance acknowledged the request and the UDM sent him a letter, stating it was not a recipient of big donations.
The NNP, the DA, and IFP all raised the possibility that opposition parties could suffer if the disclosure of private donations became compulsory.
Camerer reflected this fear by remarking: ”Business, particularly big business, usually wants to be keep on the right side of government and the governing party for obvious reasons — like government contracts.” – Sapa