Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon has accused the African National Congress of trying to force taxpayers to service the party’s debt, using floor-crossing to maximise the amount of money it will receive.
”It is an open secret that the ANC has built up a massive debt — to the tune, we believe, of R150-million — which it is struggling to pay off,” he said in his weekly newsletter on the DA website.
It has tried ”corrupt fund-raising schemes”, which failed, partly because of the ANC’s own incompetence, but also due to the vigilance of journalists and the probing questions of the opposition.
Now the amount of public money given to political parties is to be increased, and this is to be calculated not on the basis of support at the polls, but on the number of MPs in Parliament.
ANC chief whip Mbulelo Goniwe recently revealed behind closed doors to a meeting of party whips that the increase will give parties roughly R25 000 per MP per month in constituency allowances — several times more than they receive today.
”The more MPs each party has, the more public money it will get. On current numbers, that means the ANC will receive almost R90-million per year from the public purse.
”In other words, the ANC is attempting to force the taxpayer to service the ruling party’s debt, and is using floor-crossing to maximise the amount of money it will receive,” Leon said.
During the latest floor-crossing window — which closed at midnight on Thursday — the ANC gained 14 MPs from other parties, including four from the DA, bringing its total in the 400-member House to 293.
Leon also accused defectors of seeking financial gain by floor-crossing.
Few observers have noted the political system offers handsome financial rewards to politicians who ”abandon their voters”, especially if they form their own one- or two-person parties.
An ordinary MP who suddenly becomes a party leader or whip collects an instant raise of about R50 000 a year, including car allowances.
In addition, leaders of one- and two-person parties enjoy an allowance for office staff of nearly R130 000 a year.
New parties also receive constituency allowances of about R90 000 a year, plus a share of parliamentary funding for research, amounting to roughly R100 000 a year.
”All told, MPs and MPLs who leave larger parties and form their own parties stand to gain close to R400 000 in additional salaries and resources per year — well over R1-million by the time their terms expire.
”That is why, over the past two years, South Africa has seen the formation of more than half-a-dozen one- and two-person parties in the country’s various legislatures,” Leon said.
The DA will fight for a change in Parliament’s rules regarding the funding of political parties.
”As a first step, we must remove the financial incentives that encourage MPs to cross to one- and two-person parties.
”If you leave your party and cross the floor, you should receive no additional salary, no extra allowances, no new offices and no new perks.
”Your research and constituency funds should stay behind in the party you left.
”Fundamentally, our democracy requires men and women to stand on the firm ground of principle, not on the shifting sands of expedience,” Leon said. — Sapa