In
order to meet its legislative obligation provided for in section 9 of the
Political Funding Act, 2018, the Electoral Commission is pleased to publish the third
quarter donations disclosure report for the
financial year 2024/25. The report covers the period of 1 October to
31 December 2024.
In terms of fundraising and donations
activity, the third quarter appears not to have departed significantly from the
previous quarter reported on in November 2024. However, there is R10 million
more disclosed in this quarter in comparison with the previous quarter. Four
(4) political parties and nine (9) individual entities made a declaration of
donations above the R100 000 threshold.
Total value of direct donations declared for
the third quarter is R18 364 505, making the cumulative value of
donations for the year to date a significant R216 869 547.
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Quarterly
Declarations Report: 2021/22 – 2024/25
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|
Quarter
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2021/22 FY
|
2022/23 FY
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2023/24 FY
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2024/25 FY
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|
|
R (Amount)
|
R (Amount)
|
R (Amount)
|
R (Amount)
|
|
|
Quarter
1
|
R30 008 842
|
R27 037 687
|
R57 065 321
|
R189 950 829
|
|
|
Quarter
2
|
R56 880 644
|
R60 266 246
|
R44 920 274
|
R8 554 213
|
|
|
Quarter
3
|
R46 036 590
|
R40 050 926
|
R58 852 519
|
R18 364 505
|
|
|
Quarter
4
|
R12 525 388
|
R5 985 984
|
R172 069 959
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- |
|
|
Total
|
R145 451 464
|
R133 340 843
|
R332 908 073
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R216 869 547
|
|
Which parties declared
donations?
The
following four political parties declared above threshold donations:
1.
African National Congress (ANC) – R12 998 773
2.
Democratic Alliance (DA) – R4 268 227
3.
Referendum Party (RP) – R937 341
4.
Build One South Africa (BOSA) – R160 164
African National Congress (ANC) - R12 998 773
For
the second consecutive month, the ANC declared the highest value of donation,
totalling R12 998 773. All of the donations were received from the party’s
regular and/or repeat donors, namely, Education and Training Unit, Chancellor
House Trust and Botho Botho Commercial Enterprises (Pty) Ltd.
The
Education and Training Unit (ETU), a non-profit company that has worked on
democracy and development in South Africa since 1992, made an in-kind donation
of R998 773. The donation was in the form of direct payment to a hotel for
accommodation and training of ANC members in November 2024.
Chancellor
House Trust made a monetary donation of R2 000 000 in December 2024,
whereas Botho-Botho Commercial Enterprise (Pty) Ltd made a monetary donation of
R10 000 000 on 5 December 2024.
Democratic Alliance (DA) - R4 268 227
The Democratic Alliance (DA) reported the
second highest quantum of donations received, valued at R4 268 227.
Donations were received from four different donors, three of which are regular
or repeat donors to the party. These are Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF),
Main Street 1564 (Pty) Ltd, Danish Liberal Democracy Programme (DLDP) and the
Smollan Foundation Trust.
FNF made two separate donations of
R888 950 and R311 547 in November and December 2024, respectively.
The former was a monetary donation while the later was an in-kind donation made
in the form of a direct payment to service providers on behalf of the party for
a variety of training and skills development projects.
Main Street 1564 (Pty) Ltd made two separate
monetary donations of R1 420 773 and R706 316 in December 2024
whereas the DLDP and the Smollan Foundation Trust made monetary donations of
R790 640 and R150 000, respectively.
As a foreign donor, DLDP’s donation was used
to fund DA’s Ready to Govern Locally II Training Programme. Such a foreign
donation and its use on skills development is permissible in law.
Referendum Party (RP) – R937 341
The Referendum Party (RP), an unrepresented
political party established in 2024 by Phil Craig reported the third highest
donation valued at R937 341. The RP’s sole donation was an in-kind
donation from CIAG to provide for campaign resources such as the use of an
office, 200 t-shirts, 20 000 flyers, 2 000 posters, gazebos and
social media advertising, among others.
The donation was made in June 2024, which
makes it a late declaration. Consequently, the Party was issued a direction in
terms of section 15 of the Act to make representation. Depending on the reasons
furnished for this late declaration, the party could face imposition of an
administrative fine or other penalties provided for in the Act.
Build One South Africa (BOSA) – R160 164
The fourth and last donation was declared by
BOSA valued at R160 164. The donation was received from Konrad Adeneur
Stiftung NPC (KAS) in November 2024 and it was an in-kind donation directed
towards payment for hotel accommodation, meals, conference fees, flights and
transport costs for two training workshops for persons deployed in the national
and provincial spheres of government.
Foreign Donations
Foreign donations constituted
R2 151 300 (11.7%) of the total value of donations declared for the
quarter. These were declared by two parties, namely; DA and BOSA, received from
FNF, DLDP and KAS. The donations complied with the Act in that they did not
exceed the upper limit of R5 000 000 per donor per party in a
financial year and they were utilised for activities and costs related to
training and skills development of members of the political parties concerned.
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