Cosatu says all political party donations should be declared

Trade union giant Cosatu has called for the thresholds below which donations need not be disclosed in the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill to be amended to require that all donations be publicly disclosed.

The bill amends the Political Party Funding Act passed in 2021, removing the R15 million a year limit on funding political parties may receive from external sources.

President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the bill, amid criticism from civil society organisations and political parties.

Ten political parties, including the IFP, UDM and the ACDP, last month petitioned Ramaphosa to not sign into law the bill, on the grounds that it is unconstitutional.

Cosatu spokesperson Matthew Parks said while the union welcomes the act, including its amendments recognising independent candidates contesting national and provincial elections as necessitated by the Constitutional Court judgment, it believes that one critical amendment remains necessary and should be prioritised and considered by the next Parliament.

“The act provides for the president, in consultation with Parliament, to set thresholds below which donations to political parties and independent candidates need not be disclosed as well as caps on the limits of donations they can receive.

“While supporting the need for flexibility on caps on donations, the provisions for thresholds below which donations need not be disclosed opens a massive and obvious gap for tenderpreneurs and other persons with criminal intent seeking to buy influence, to legally circumvent the progressive transparency and accountability objectives and provisions of the act.”

Parks said this is dangerous given the country’s painful experiences with state capture.

“The thresholds below which donations need not be disclosed should be amended to require that all donations be publicly disclosed.

“This is critical if we are to remove the cancer of corruption from our body politic.”

Parks said workers and the nation cannot afford the costs of corruption remaining ingrained across our political establishment and government.

The Mercury

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