The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) noted that represented political parties continue to be beneficiaries of bigger donations, however, there are indications that unrepresented parties are actively raising funds and do receive some significant donations.

ActionSA declared donations bigger than donations received by some of the represented parties for the third quarter of the 2022/23 financial year.

A total of five political parties have declared donations amounting to R40 050 925.54, with ActionSA, the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) declaring donations‑in‑kind to the value of R30 782 925.54.

ActionSA received donations totalling R4 680 000. Martin Moshal donated R3.5-million, R180 000 was donated by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and R1-million came from the African Equity Corporation.

The ANC disclosed a sum of R32 000 000. The Batho Batho Trust donated R15-million, Naspers Limited donated R2-million and United Manganese of Kalahari (UMK) donated R15-million.

Both Batho Batho Trust and UMK have, in the previous financial year, made significant donations to the party.

The DA received a total of R2 921 325.54. The Fynbos Trust donated R271 000, Karen Cramer donated R250 000, Naspers Limited also donated R2-million to the party and Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) donated R400 325.54.

Except for Cramer, the three other entities have also made significant donations to the party previously.

The EFF and Patriotic Alliance’s (PA’s) donations were received from a single donor each, with the EFF receiving a sum of R202 600 from Car Junction, while the PA received R247 000 from one of the national party leaders Kenny Kunene.

DONATIONS-IN-KIND

The largest of the in-kind donations was declared by the ANC, with R30 000 000. The balance was made up of donations to ActionSA of R180 000, the DA with R400 325.54 and the EFF with R202 600.

ActionSA’s in-kind donation was received from KAS, a foreign entity and political foundation that is closely associated with the Christian Democratic Union of Germany. The in-kind donation was in the form of training and skills development for party members.

The ANC’s in-kind donations were from the Batho Batho Trust and UMK, valued at R15-million each.  

The donation from the Batho Batho Trust was a payment made to the South African Revenue Service on behalf of the party, whereas the donation from UMK was a payment made on behalf of the party to the Johannesburg Expo Centre for the ANC elective conference in December 2022.

The DA’s total in-kind donation is from FNF, which has donated to the party every quarter. The in-kind donation, valued at R400 325.54, was in the form of training and skills development for party members.

All of the EFF’s declared donation of R202 600 was an in-kind donation received from a donor called Car Junction. The donation was in the form of party-branded T-shirts and caps.

Meanwhile, only ActionSA and DA declared foreign donations and all of them were compliant with the legislation, in that they were below the R5-million limit per donor per party per year.