My Vote Counts (MVC), a civil society organisation, is urging President Cyril Ramaphosa to provide an explanation for his decision to increase the threshold for disclosure of private political party funding.
The group is also questioning the reasons behind the decision and warning of the implications for democratic transparency in South Africa.Cyril Ramaphosa doubled the thresholds under the Political Party Funding Act (PFA) on August 18th.
By signing a proclamation that increased the annual donation maximum from R15 million to R30 million per donor and increased the amount that parties can take without disclosure from R100 000 to R200 000.
The modifications were gazetted and went into effect right away. The president now has until October 20 to reply to a letter from My Vote Counts asking for written justifications and the complete record of data that went into the decision. “We would like to know the reasoning behind this decision.”
Joel Bregman, project lead at MVC stated. “Rising the thresholds undermines the very principles of transparency and accountability the Act was meant to uphold.”
This most recent motion is a component of the organization’s larger legal action, which it has previously taken to the Constitutional Court after the Western Cape High Court rejected its August appeal to have the Act ruled unconstitutional. MVC wants the Constitutional Court to consider the case directly, but it has also appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
The SCA appeal will be dismissed if the Constitutional Court rules in favour of the case.MVC said in its first court challenge against the PFA: permits cumulative, concealed donations from connected people or organisations. allows for excessive private funding, which has increased to R30 million annually from R15 million per contributor does not require individuals or natural persons to reveal donations compromises the openness, accountability, and transparency tenets of the constitution.
According to the group, these shortcomings create the possibility of corruption and under influence, particularly in the run-up to the national and provincial elections in 2026.Bregman continued, “we are especially concerned that donors can use proxies or related entities to give far more than the public ever sees, and that the law still permits donations to be hidden if they are split below the threshold.
“Although the majority of parliamentary political parties supported the revisions, others opposed them, notably Build One South Africa, Al Jama-ah, the African Transformation Movement, and the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party.
Similar issues regarding accountability gaps and the power of large money in South African politics have been brought up by these parties.In addition, My Vote Counts has formally requested access to all of the documents and justifications that went into the president’s proclamation under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).
A major precedent for how South Africa strikes a balance between the necessity of party funding and the public’s right to know who finances its leaders may be established by the resolution of this request and the ongoing constitutional battle.
Sub-Editor: Matlala Kgaugelo
