Mthembu calls for boost in funding for political parties
ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu wants public funding of political parties increased‚ saying the R150-million to be shared proportionally among 12 parties represented in parliament in this financial year is a pittance.
Mthembu has also proposed that parliament should craft a law to ensure transparency and public accountability in the private funding of parties.
His proposal marks a serious departure from the ANC’s previous stance on the matter‚ in which his predecessor Stone Sizani and parliament successfully challenged an application in the Constitutional Court in 2015 that sought to force parties to disclose their private donors.
The ANC’s parliamentary boss said he would soon be tabling a motion in the National Assembly calling for the establishment of a multiparty ad hoc committee to develop legislation and policies on increased public funding of political parties and regulations to allow public scrutiny of private donations.
Mthembu said his proposal stemmed from ANC national conference resolutions from Polokwane in 2007 and Mangaung in 2012‚ which up to now had not been acted upon.
He said he wanted the proposed ad hoc committee to conclude its work by December. “We are late‚ but better late than never‚” he said. The issue of private political funding has been on the agenda for years‚ with pressure groups arguing that secret donations to parties were a danger to democracy as they could allow undue influence on the affairs of political parties.
Critics have also argued that anonymous party funding also created space for corruption to thrive‚ especially among political formations in charge of various spheres of government.
Mthembu said the ad hoc committee would also be free to decide if anonymous funding should be completely banned or be regulated‚ depending on the level of public funding it was likely to agree on.
“Our democracy will not advance without being funded adequately from the public purse‚ and indeed R150-million is a pittance‚” Mthembu said.
“I would not want to go into the finances of the ANC, but as the person who is responsible for communication‚ just one line item in the budget for elections was communication.
“We had to spend more than R200-million just in one line item‚ not to mention others, such as issues of staffing‚ taking care of buildings‚ election years‚ travels by party officials and accommodation in hotels.”
Judith February, of the Institute of Security Studies‚ who has been part of the open party funding lobby for the last 12 years‚ said Mthembu’s proposal was a step in the right direction.
“One hopes he gets the full support of the ANC caucus to move things forward‚” she said.