The Electoral Commission has released the
fourth-quarter political funding donations disclosure report for the 2024/25
financial year. The report covers the period from 1 January to 31 March 2025.
This publication comes amid ongoing public and
parliamentary debates on political funding regulations, especially those
relating to the minimum disclosure thresholds and the maximum donations cap. The
Commission has noted that the National Assembly has resolved to raise the
minimum disclosure threshold and increase the maximum permissible donation per
donor per financial year. In the event the President implements the resolution
of the National Assembly, these amounts are set to rise from R100 000 to R200 000
and from R15 million to R30 million, respectively.
Donations remain subdued
Donation levels remain subdued, consistent with
established patterns in the electoral cycle. For the fourth quarter of 2024/25,
the total value of declared donations amounted to R14 186 594 (fourteen
million one hundred and eighty-six thousand and five hundred and ninety-four
rand). These disclosures were made by three political parties:
- African National Congress
(ANC) – R7 000 000
b) Democratic Alliance (DA)
– R6 186 594
c) ActionSA – R1 000 000
Although the current disclosures are low, historical
data shows that donation levels typically increase in the lead-up to elections.
We therefore should anticipate a noticeable uptick in reported donations as the
2026 local government elections draw closer.
Breakdown of Party Donations
The reported donations were received as follows:
African National
Congress (ANC) – R7 000 000
The ANC declared two monetary donations:
- Chancellor House Trust - R4 000 000
- Naspers Limited - R3 000 000
Both donations were received in March 2025.
Chancellor House Trust, a repeat donor, has contributed a cumulative R11
million to the ANC during the 2024/25 financial year, staying within the
current maximum threshold of R15 million.
This was Naspers Limited’s only donation to the
party in the financial year.
Democratic Alliance (DA)
– R6 186 594
The DA’s disclosures
comprised both monetary and in-kind donations from ten donors, including:
- Naspers Limited – R3 000 000
- Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) – R1 040
907 (in-kind)
- Main Street 1564 (Pty) Ltd – R743 687
- Polyoak Packaging (Pty) Ltd – R120 000
- DKS General Industrial Cleaners – R200 000
Individual donors
included:
- Mr Simon Susman – R250,000
- Mr Dag Cramer – R250,000
- Mr Bruce MacRobert – R250,000
- Mr Antonie Dymond – R132,000
- Mr Julian Treger – R200,000
Most of these donors
have previously supported the DA, with FNF and Main Street 1564 (Pty) Ltd
making recurring contributions in past quarters, all within the legal limits.
FNF’s in-kind donation supported
the DA's internal capacity-building initiatives, such as Speech Republic
Training, Strategic Planning for the Finance Department and Catalyst Programme:
First Retreat
ActionSA – R1,000,000
ActionSA reported a
single monetary donation from African Equity Corporation (Pty) Ltd. The
donation was received in March 2025.
Foreign Donations
Only one foreign
donation was recorded in the quarter. The donation was received from Friedrich
Naumann Foundation (FNF) and was valued at R1 040 907 to the DA. This foreign
donation was in-kind.
This donation was used
for permissible purposes in terms of the law.
Multi-Party Democracy Fund (MPDF)
The quality of our collective democratic life is
dependent on a strong multi-party system of governance. Thus, non-partisan
contributions to the fund are highly encouraged by the Commission to preserve
multi-party democracy in the country.
ISSUED BY THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION
Ensuring
free, fair and credible elections
For media queries: Please contact Kate
Bapela on 082 600 6386
For media interviews:
Email
requests to [email protected]
Also reach the IEC
on: