Party political funding in need of a re-look

DRIVE down any city road in South Africa, whether in the suburbs or the townships, and you’re likely to see a lamp post billboard from Rise Mzansi, the upstart new political party of former newspaper editor Songezo Zibi.

Before Sunday’s announcement that Rise Mzansi had received funding from a member of the Oppenheimer family, many political observers would have been left wondering: “How do they pay for this?”

Other smaller political hopefuls would have looked at that R15 million Rise Mzansi received from Rebecca Oppenheimer with a sense of envy and trepidation – because there are no free lunches.

Once in Parliament, what will be expected of Zibi in terms of the policies his party pursues, whether in government or on the opposition benches?

In America we’ve seen the extent to which entrenched interests have impacted government policies through their political funding, whether the White House is controlled by Republicans or Democrats.

One can only imagine that those political parties which threaten South Africa’s status quo won’t be on the receiving end of Rebecca Oppenheimer’s generosity – which is her democratic right.

But what then for plurality of views? And how should this diversity be funded? That’s a question for South Africa’s civil society and policymakers. Just don’t expect the cattle to vote for the butchers.

In South Africa, companies – often in sectors such as mining, telecommunications and finance – provide financial support to political parties in exchange for influence over policy decisions that impact their industries.

This practice has led to accusations that political parties are beholden to their corporate donors, rather than to the electorate.

That’s how some monopolies like Multichoice have gone about their business unperturbed by (the lack of) government regulations, instead it is market forces, spurred on by the explosion in internet access, which is finally bringing the company to heel.

The funding of political parties by Big Business in South Africa raises important questions about the nature of democracy and the influence of corporate interests on government policies. Greater transparency and accountability are needed to ensure that political decisions are made in the interest of the people, rather than of wealthy donors.