One of the biggest challenges facing the ANC is the struggle to raise funds because of the stigma that comes with funding political parties, the ANC treasurer-general says.
Speaking to the Mail & Guardian in a podcast last week, Gwen Ramokgopa said a major contributing factor to the party's fund-raising difficulties was the negativity associated with companies declaring which party they had donated to.
Previously, political parties would accuse the ANC of instructing party-linked government officials to give contracts to party members in return for funding the organisation.
In August, during the release of the first quarterly party funding report, the Electoral Commission said it had identified several compliance matters relating to donations from party and its donors. The submissions had not met the requirements of the Political Funding Act and the applicable disclosure framework.
The deficiencies identified included failure to submit the required dual disclosure; failure by the donor and/or recipient to submit the required declaration; failure to provide proof of the underlying transaction; failure to provide the required supporting documentation; and late reporting of donations.
The value of donations identified in the process totalled R15.27 million, the IEC said. It said the ANC had also reported many donations relating to the 2025/26 financial year after the prescribed reporting periods.
"Many companies feel that even if it is a positive gesture of supporting democracy, they become the football of other political parties and they are negatively affected by it," Ramokgopa said.
"Obviously, we are working on the brand. Renewal is a process and we have made it very clear that protecting the ANC brand is very critical. If you suspend and eventually expel your erstwhile president and secretary-general, that is really saying zero tolerance for wrongdoing."
In 2022, Ramokgopa took over as treasurer-general from deputy president Paul Mashatile.
During his tenure, the party was notorious for not paying its workers, failing to pay medical aid contributions and election material costs, while sheriffs had turned Luthuli House into their playground.
Ramokgopa said the problems were in the past.
"In my office, we inherited difficulties in the ANC. We couldn't pay our staff on time and, some months, we couldn't even pay them but we have stabilised. We have also seen an increase in political party funding from the government. We don't receive as much as other parties from the private sector."
She said the ANC encouraged everyone to support democracy by funding political parties.
Ramokgopa said the party had also looked at ways in which it could save the little money it had. The ANC should be able to get through the elections with its current finances.
"We have also looked at efficiencies with the little we have and how we stretch the rand. For instance, the price of the T-shirts. When I started, a T-shirt was R56 but we are negotiating for R28, excluding VAT.
"We also negotiate profit-sharing. Some of the merchandisers are registered with the ANC because it is our intellectual property and we have a relationship. Donations have also not been much but we are also looking at commercial arrangements."