Only 63 out of 531 political parties registered with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) made some kind of submission on their financial statements as at the end of March 2023.
This emerged in the IEC Political Party Funding annual report for 2022/23 tabled in Parliament earlier this week.
Parties registered with the IEC are expected, under the Political Funding Act, to submit audited financial statements with audit opinion within six months of the end of the financial year.
IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya said the commission expressed gratitude to political parties that had complied with the act, submitting records and audited statements.
“Unfortunately, some parties failed to comply, and the commission has taken appropriate steps. The institution will continue working with non-compliant parties to ensure adherence to the law,” Moepya said.
The IEC report showed that there were 531 registered parties. Only 13 were represented in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures, while 516 were not represented as at March 2023.
“Sixty-three registered political parties have made some form of a submission to the Electoral Commission. Out of these, 50 submitted on or before the deadline of September 30, 2023 and 13 submitted after the deadline,” reads the report.
It said those parties that failed to submit financial statements were asked to make representations to the commission.
Chief electoral commissioner Sy Mamabolo said they acknowledged with regret the non-compliance of certain political entities.
“In response, the commission has taken measured steps, aimed not only to enforce the law but also to collaborate with offending parties. These interventions are intended for an improved culture of compliance for the greater good of our democracy,” Mamabolo said.
The annual report also said parties represented in Parliament and legislatures were also required to submit audited statements of income relating to donations, membership fees and levies.
Thirteen of the 15 represented parties submitted the audited financial statements as required by the law and only 12 met the submission deadline.
“African Independent Congress (AIC) and National Freedom Party (NFP) are the two of the 15 represented parties that have not submitted any financial statements.
“AIC did not receive any financial allocation for the financial year 2022/23 as the party’s disbursements were suspended due to, among others, failure to comply with the requirements of the Political Party Funding Act, 2018, and the ongoing internal leadership disputes.
“As a result of the suspended allocation, financial statements relating to the funds did not have to be submitted.
However, the party was still required to submit a statement relating to direct funding.” The IEC found that one party,
Congress of the People, was not compliant when it submitted its financial statements relating to the Represented Political Party Fund and the Multi-Party Democracy Fund as its report of auditors made references to the repealed legislation.
It also said out of 516 unrepresented parties which were required to submit audited statements in relation to direct funding, only 50 made some kind of a submission to the Electoral Commission even though not all submissions were compliant with the requirements of the Political Party Funding Act.
“This means that an estimated 483 unrepresented political parties did not submit any statement of income prepared in terms of section 12(2)(ii), and they are therefore in contravention of section 12(4) of the Political Party Funding Act, 2018.”
Meanwhile, R342 million was allocated for distribution to represented political parties during the 2022/23 financial year.
A further R300m was allocated in the second adjustment budget to defray expected excess expenditure by political parties for the 2024 elections.
The ANC received R148.5m, followed by the DA with R62.7m, the EFF R40.9m, the Freedom Front Plus R19.5m and the IFP R14.6m.
The IEC also recorded that 12 political parties made declarations totalling R133m for donations in excess of R100 000.
Moepya said while the top three political parties had received substantial support, contributions to the Multi-party Democracy Fund had been lacking as it pocketed R2.5m.
“The commission appeals to the South African public and the private sector to generously contribute to a fund that is so vital for nurturing and sustaining South Africa’s electoral democracy,” he said.
Cape Times