Five of the country’s largest political parties face litigation to compel them to reveal their sources of private funding.
Lawyers acting on behalf of the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa) will send letters informing the African National Congress, Democratic Alliance, New National Party, Inkatha Freedom Party and African Christian Democratic Party
of the impending court action by the end of the month.
Not one of the country’s 13 political parties represented in Parliament disclosed anything after Idasa requested them in October to do so, citing the Promotion of Access to Information Act. Now Idasa is launching its legal action as a public interest campaign.
“There comes a point when we have to use the rights in the Constitution,” said Richard Calland, head of Idasa’s Right to Know campaign. “We recognise political parties need public and private funding. What we are asking for is an end to the secrecy and some level of regulation. Political parties must become less dependent on large, secretive donations.”
Although South Africa has comprehensive anti-corruption measures, what was still missing were regulations on private political donations, he said. Political inequality is at the heart of the action, said Judith February, manager of Idasa’s political information and monitoring service.
She said if powerful and wealthy interests are able to buy influence, there is the danger that the poor and others without resources are not being heard. And in the context of South Africa’s stark socio-economic inequalities it was crucial to avoid such a situation, she said.
The issue of private political funding first arose in 1994. Three years later, when Parliament passed the 1997 Public Funding of Represented Political Parties Act, the government committed itself to look into private political funding. Last year Idasa submitted a draft Bill proposing among other things the disclosure of private donations over R20 000, either once-off or accumulative, a year.
The DA did not reply at all to Idasa’s request in October. The ANC and NNP sent lawyers’ letters saying that as private entities they were not compelled to disclose unless Idasa proved its interest and right to this information. The United Democratic Movement and Pan Africanist Congress each replied they did not receive private funding.
During SAfm’s After Eight Debate this week concerning private party political funding, none of the participating parties — the NNP, DA, African Christian Democratic Party, IFP and Independent Democrats (ID) — would reveal their private donations unless every political party did the same. The ANC declined to take part in the SAfm debate at all.
However, during the debate it also emerged that the ID, formed earlier this year and not part of the public interest campaign, appears to have had a change of heart after its earlier promises of transparency about its funding. ID Gauteng leader Themba Sono said the party supported disclosure, but would await regulations.
In contrast, all of the top 13 Johannesburg Securities Exchange-listed companies have replied to a similar request for disclosure on political donations. And it is understood at least one of those has presented a code on political funding to its board for consideration.
Gencor became the first company to disclose donations to the NNP and then Democratic Party between 1994 and 1998, followed by Anglo Platinum revealing roughly equal donations to the top five political parties. Richemont replied such donations were banned since 1998.