IEC reveals donations to top political parties

The Electoral Commission released the third quarter disclosure report for the financial year 2023/24, covering October 1 to December 31 2023.

The report is published on the back of proclamation of election date for the 2024 national and provincial elections (NPE) by President Cyril Ramaphosa, which will be held on May 29 2024.

There has been a steady increase in the value of donations disclosed for the third quarter, which is in some ways indicative of the heightened fundraising activities by political parties in preparation for the upcoming elections.

A total of seven political parties have made donation declarations during this quarter, and they are:

Rise Mzansi R16,7m; ActionSA R13,9m; ANC R10m;

Build One SA R8,5m; Patriotic Alliance R7m; DA R2,6m;

IFP R191,040.

Total value of donations declared: R59m.

Of Rise Mzansi’s R16m total, R15m was a monetary donation received from Rebecca Oppenheimer, who has in the past made similar large donations to the DA and ActionSA. Another monetary donation declared by Rise Mzansi was R1m received from an entity named Main Street 1564 (Pty) Ltd.

ActionSA received their highest monetary donations from the party’s regular donors, Victoria Freudenheim (R7,4m) and Martin Moshal (R5m).

The balance of the donations came from African Equity Corporation, SHIYAN, Solomon David Group and Alan Beesley.

The ANC received two donations of R5m each from

Chancellor House Trust.

Build One SA’s highest donation was R6m from Jessica Bridget Slack Jell, followed by Martin Moshal with R2m. They also received R500,000 from RTH Investments (Pty) Ltd.

Patriotic Alliance’s R7m came from eight different donors. Party leader, Gayton McKenzie, was the party’s highest donor for the quarter with three separate donations of R250,000.

Another party leader, Kenny Kunene, made a total monetary donation of R1m to his party during the same period.

The DA’s total donation declaration amount was R2,6m, received in a combination of inkind and monetary donations from six different donors.

The largest donation amount of R1m from an entity named Artemis Properties (Pty) Ltd, followed by Beacon Rock Limited with a donation of R999,7m.

The IFP reported a lone inkind donation valued at R191,040.77 from Konrad Adenauer Stiftung NPC.

The donation was made towards costs related to a training workshop for party members employed in the national, provincial and local spheres of government.

Foreign donations for the third quarter were R71,797 and R191,040, declared by DA and IFP, respectively.

For each of these parties, the donations were compliant with the legislation in that they did not exceed the set limit of R5m per party per financial year and were utilised for purposes sanctioned by the law.

During the third quarter, the Multi-Party Democracy Fund received a contribution of R5m from Standard Bank.