CASAC CONCERNED BY AMENDMENTS TO POLITICAL PARTY FUNDING REGULATIONS.

Today, the National Assembly will vote on the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill which amends, among others, the Political Party Funding Act 6 of 2018 (PPFA).

The Bill was initially intended to make consequential amendments to electoral legislation following the enactment of the Electoral Amendment Act 1 of 2023 which makes provision for the participation of independent candidates in provincial and national elections.

This process has since been hijacked to smuggle into the Bill amendments that undermine the party funding regime established by the PPFA, which ensures transparency in the private funding of political parties. In the version of the Bill before the National Assembly, the disclosure threshold for donations (R100 000) is removed as is the annual upper limit (R15 million) on donations to political parties.

Instead, the Bill vests wide powers in the President to determine both limits in regulations while at the same time not providing any transitional measures to regulate funding disclosures before the envisaged regulations are promulgated.

These amendments effectively dismantle the core of the PPFA, the party funding disclosure regime. They represent a regressive step, reversing the strides made towards enhancing transparency in political party funding and enabling voters to make informed political choices by providing access to party funding information.

It is particularly concerning that these amendments are made in a truncated process, with less than two months before an election, where there has been very minimal meaningful public participation.

We strongly urge all Members of Parliament to reject the Bill in its present form as a regressive and unnecessary measure at this stage.

For further enquiries:

Sibonelo Mavuso

Communications and Advocacy Officer

084 357 7738