Electoral Matters Amendment Act: Parliament seeks to address party funding loophole

Parliament is aiming to address the loophole in the Electoral Matters Amendment Act concerning political party funding.

On Thursday, the National Assembly’s Programming Committee was briefed on the recent legal developments regarding the contentious Electoral Matters Amendment Act.

Political party funding gap

My Vote Counts wants to overturn the Electoral Matters Amendment Act and nullify all actions taken under the new law.

The legislation opened the door for parties to receive unlimited amounts of money without being required to declare these funds, as mandated by the Political Parties Funding Act (PPFA).

This is due to the removal of the R100 000 threshold for declaring donations to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).

The R15 million limit on donations to political parties from a single donor per year was also removed as a result of the enactment of the Electoral Matters Amendment Act, which came into effect on 7 May.

ALSO READ: Gap remains in Electoral Matters Amendment Act over Party funding

The president has the powers to establish the upper limit and threshold, but can only act on a resolution adopted by Parliament.

The National Assembly passed a resolution on 16 May without suggesting any limits, prompting My Vote Counts to approach the Western Cape High Court seeking urgent relief.

Judge Daniel Thulare ruled on 27 May that there was a gap in the legislation.

Thulare, however, did not make an order of constitutional invalidity.

Instead, the judge ordered interested parties to return to court on 12 August to show cause why the order should not be granted.

National Assembly resolution

In Thursday’s meeting, Secretary to the National Assembly, Masibulele Xaso noted that Parliament had passed a resolution without the perimeters.

“On the 9th of May, the House had considered passing a resolution that had set the upper limit and threshold, but on the 16th of May, we passed a different resolution.

“Now, the court has expressed some views that are not kind in terms of why Parliament decided to take that route,” he told the programming committee.

Xaso revealed that Parliament’s legal advisors had suggested that the National Assembly reconsider its 9 May resolution.

“So that when we go back to court, we are able to demonstrate that we are doing something about what the court said on the matter of political party funding,” he continued.

READ MORE: Funding Act: It will be ‘easier to grab money with less transparency’ – researcher

This could be disrupted by the fact that the National Assembly is set to go on a constituency period and MPs will only return on 20 August.

According to Parliament’s programme, the legislature’s first term will end on 29 July.

“We do recognise that today(25 July) is our last day and, therefore, we will not be in a position to do that resolution before the 12th. However, Parliament must be able to indicate what it is doing about the matter when we go back.

“What we propose we do is that we circulate the judgment to the honourable members, we circulate the resolution that was passed by the National Assembly and at some point, there will have to be a discussion on the type of resolution that must be passed when Parliament gets back in August,” Xaso concluded.

Watch the meeting below:

National Assembly speaker, Thoko Didiza also weighed in on the matter.

“We can write in an affidavit to court to indicate that this matter has served in this structure and there is agreement by parties that the resolution must be relooked into by the National Assembly when we come back after recess,” she said.

The African National Congress (ANC) and the Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) accepted the proposal.

My Vote Counts previously indicated that the organisation will supplement its May 2023 court application to have the parts in the Electoral Matters Amendment Act related to party funding declared unconstitutional and invalid.

NOW READ: Party funding changes are a concern – analysts and parties