In a move that has ignited immediate debate, the President has signed into law a significant increase to the amount a single private entity can donate to a political party, doubling the cap to R30 million. Concurrently, the declaration threshold—the point at which a donation must be publicly disclosed—has been raised to R200,000.
The timing of these changes, just a few years ahead of the next national election, has drawn scrutiny from political observers. The amendments mean that a donor can now give a party up to R30 million without breaching the legal limit, and any single donation under R200,000 can be made in complete secrecy.
Governance expert Sandile Swana, unpacking the implications in an interview with News from Africa, called the timing “controversial” but chose to focus his analysis on the structural impact of the new limits.
Swana offered a nuanced perspective on the increased R30 million cap. He argued that by acknowledging the extreme concentration of wealth in South Africa, the cap acts as a circuit breaker to prevent a single wealthy individual or corporation from wielding outsized influence.
“The issue of the limits being increased to 30 million… acknowledges that wealth in South Africa is concentrated,” Swana stated. “It is an indirect way of addressing the concentration of wealth… so that those in whose hands the wealth is concentrated do not control our politics as in any event is currently the case.”
However, he was quick to point out the ease of circumventing such a rule, noting, “Someone who has 30 million rand to give a political party probably has friends. They can give that money to their friends and between them they can give a lot more money anyway.”
The expert’s primary concern lay with the newly set declaration threshold of R200,000. He questioned whether this figure was too high, allowing for substantial secret funding. “You or I or anyone could give 199,000 rand to one political party and no one would ever know about it,” he said, adding that such an amount is far from insignificant.
Swana expressed deep skepticism about the current system’s enforcement and transparency, citing examples of parties hosting lavish rallies with unclear funding sources. “We’ve seen some of the parties launching very rich, luxurious rallies in expensive venues and everybody keeps asking where did that money come from?” he said, referencing vague explanations like donated livestock.
He called for the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to be more transparent about its auditing processes and to publicly certify that it knows the true source of party funding.
Despite his criticisms, Swana found a note of hope in recent comments by ANC Treasurer General Gwen Ramokgopa, who advocated for donor transparency. He echoed her sentiment, arguing that donors should be open about their contributions, just as citizens had to be open about their political stances during the struggle against apartheid.
“This is just about money,” Swana concluded. “We know some of them want privatization to go to their companies… but they need to be a little bit candid about their donations.”
The changes set the stage for a highly funded election cycle, with watchdogs likely to closely monitor how the new rules are implemented and whether they truly serve to illuminate or further obscure the flow of money in South African politics.