Additional NPC Documents

Additional discussion documents: POLITICAL FUNDING AND ANC FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

40. In November 1997, the Public Funding of Represented Political Parties Act (103 of 1997) was passed. The Act created the Rep resented Political Parties’ Fund, administered by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). Ninety per cent of these funds are al located to parties in terms of their represen tation in the National Assembly and legisla tures. The remaining ten per cent is divided proportionally amongst provinces, and equally amongst the parties represented in each provincial legislature. In total, almost R100 million was allocated by the fund to political parties in 2010/11 calendar year. Since the establishment of the Fund the amounts al located to parties has barely kept pace with inflation. 41. In addition party caucuses are funded by the national and provincial legislatures. In Parlia ment, transfers to political parties are divided between constituency support, political party support and party leadership support. Par liamentary funds have risen substantially in recent years, especially the allocation for constituency support and they now dwarf the funds allocated from Represented Political Parties’ Fund. 42. Substantial funds are also transferred directly to parties from Provincial Legislatures. In terms of the Constitution, the power to legis late in respect of funding for political parties is a matter for the national legislature, and provincial legislatures may be acting outside the Constitution by granting these transfers. Despite the potential this creates for legal challenges, provinces continue to allocate substantial amounts directly to political par ties. The danger is that future legal challeng es may render this funding source void. 43. Taking these sources of funding together, public funding to political parties now ex ceeds R500 million per annum, with the ANC receiving the bulk of the funds. The size of this public allocation should prompt us to ask whether the case for additional financing is really strong. Could the ANC and other par ties simply reallocate the R500 million in a manner that better supports their goals and objectives? 44. This question brings us to how the funds are used. Most political party support provided by Parliament for instance is utilized by the ANC caucus, and is not available for activities

outside the national legislature. The use of constituency funds, allocated by both national and provincial legislatures, and their relation ship to ANC branches is an issue that may require further discussion. 45. The finance provided through the IEC may be used for a variety of purposes which are recognised by the Act as including the de velopment of the political will of the people, bringing the political party’s influence to bear on the shaping of public opinion, inspiring and furthering political education, promoting active participation by individual citizens in political life, exercising influence on political trends, and ensuring continuous, vital links between the people and the organs of the state. The Act prohibits the use of funds for investment, to top up salaries of public representatives or for any activity that is in contradiction with the Parliamentary code of ethics. 46. The use of funds mandated by the Act are wide ranging. However, given the limited na ture of these funds, and the fact that Caucus funds are utilized by caucuses, particular at tention needs to be given to the following ac tivities that are central to the democratic man date of political parties that are not directly publicly funded: a) Election campaigns b) On-going voter education, political edu cation and citizenship education c) Policy development and dissemination 47. While these activities could in theory be ac commodated within the current envelope, there is a strong case for rationalising the current system and extending the scope of public funding to explicitly cover some of these activities. This could be achieved, for instance, by the direct funding of party-linked policy institutes or funding for the conduct of on-going educational work between election periods. It should be noted that little provision is made for the funding of parties at the local sphere of government. The current framework also does not accommodate independent candidates who are not linked to established parties. PRINCIPLES OF A NEW APPROACH TO PARTY FUNDING IN SOUTH AFRICA 48. As noted in the Polokwane resolution and the

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