A general view of local elections campaign posters on 10 May 2021, in Pretoria. Picture: Gallo Images/Lefty Shivambu
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has released the disclosure of donations made by South Africa’s political parties in terms of the Political Party Funding Act (PPFA).
Only four parties – the Democratic Alliance (DA), ActionSA, the African National Congress (ANC) and the Patriotic Alliance (PA) – declared donations in the first quarter of the current financial year, totalling R27 037 687.13.
ALSO READ: DA leads in party donations – declares R15,9 million to IEC vs ANC’s R10 million
The PPFA, which came into effect on 1 April 2021, requires political parties to disclose donations from R100 000 and upwards.
The DA made the highest disclosure in party donations of almost R16 million. From this amount, the single largest donation amount of R15 million was made by Fynbos Ekwiteit (Pty) Ltd.
But who is Fynbos Ekwiteit (Pty)?
Fynbos Ekwiteit is listed as a general insurance agency based in Cape Town, with little to no trace of actual business operations, the service it offers or its correct address on the internet.
The company was registered in 2011.
The DA’s national communication manager, Eldé Muller, responded to queries regarding the company, saying that she was not privy to the information on them and was unable to assist.
But what we do know is that the company is said to have been registered by Johan Le Roux together with South African billionaire, Michiel Le Roux.
Le Roux is the founder of Capitec Bank and owns about an 11% stake in it. He served as chairman of the board of Capitec from 2007 to 2016, and has continued on as a board member. Le Roux also ran Boland Bank, a smaller scale regional bank also based in Cape Town.
Forbes estimates Michiel Le Roux’s net worth at more than R4 billion.
While Le Roux is not very audible about his support for the DA in the media and keeps his public political discussions at a minimum, media reports have confirmed that he was part of a delegation that met with former DA leader Mmusi Maimane, asking him to consider resigning in the party’s best interests.
He was also an author of the report the DA commissioned after its dull electoral performance in 2019.
Le Roux has also – through Fynbos – made other significant donations to the DA in the previous financial year.
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation: providing a political education
The other DA supporter to make a significant contribution was the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF), a German entity.
Based in Potsdam and with offices throughout Germany, this foundation aims to help people to become actively involved in political affairs. The foundation also supports talented young students with scholarships.
The foundation believes that only when individuals take part in the political process and assume responsibility, when they get involved and express their opinions, does a liberal society grow and flourish.
Unlike the Le Roux’s, the foundation has been very public about its support for the DA.
On its website, the foundation states: “In South Africa, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom supports pioneering empirical research projects, publications and roundtable discussions that provide an alternative platform for debate and the free exchange of ideas…
“An important part of the Foundation’s work focuses on collaboration with the Democratic Alliance (DA) – South Africa’s liberal voice.”
The ANC made the second highest disclosure of R 10 million.
The donor was an entity known as Botho-Botho Commercial Enterprise (Pty) Ltd.
The private company was established in 1999, in Menlo Park, Pretoria and its sole director South African mining billionaire businessman Patrice Motsepe – the brother-in-law of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
It was unclear what kind of business Botho-Botho Commercial Enterprise is involved in.
The IEC said this entity should not be confused with Batho-Batho Trust, which has investments in petroleum giant Shell’s exploration business.
Batho-Batho Trust donated R15 million to the ANC between October and December 2021.
Shell-linked Batho Batho Trust
Batho Batho Trust has a majority stake in Thebe Investments, the local empowerment partner of Shell SA. The trust could potentially also make millions of rand from shale gas exploitation in the Karoo after Shell applied for exploration rights in the area.
Earlier this year, government was criticised by the public after supporting Shell’s seismic survey off the Wild Coast in Eastern Cape.
ALSO READ: Shell, Mantashe loses appeal against Wild Coast seismic survey
Mineral Resources And Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, who’s also the ANC’s national chairperson, even accused environmental groups of “harassing” Shell and failing to see the investment South Africa needs to curb poverty and solve its energy problems.
“We consider the objections to these developments as apartheid and colonialism of a special type, masqueraded as a great interest for environmental protection,” Mantashe said at the time.
ActionSA disclosed the third largest cumulative donations of R 750 000.00.
These donations were received from Style Eyes of California (Pty) Ltd and Shave & Gibson Group (Pty) Ltd, which previously donated to ActionSA in the last financial year.
The former made a monetary donation of R 600 000 and the latter a donation of R 150 000.
Style Eyes of California is mainly engaged in the clothing stores industry and is based in Durban north, KwaZulu-Natal. The private company apparently has 94 total employees across all of its locations and generates $273.37 million in sales.
According to BizPortal, Style Eyes of California has four registered directors which include Gerard Noel Canot, Darin Leroy Owen and Paula Antoinette Owen.
Shave & Gibson Group (Pty) Ltd is involved in packaging and security printing. The main products produced by the company include general folding cartons, fast food cartons, litho laminates and skin pack boards.
Shave & Gibson’s story began in 1981, when brothers-in-law, Alan Gibson and Neville Shave, purchased a small company called Group Print & Packaging which laid the company’s foundations.
In 1995, the group acquired Stradprint, which has grown into the security printing division. In 2005, the group was acquired by its current chairman, Simon Downes, according to its website.
For the Patriotic Alliance, the total donation value of R 310 000, comprising two separate amounts of R150 000 and R160 000, were received from the party’s leader Gayton McKenzie.
And everyone knows Gayton McKenzie – the convict turned businessman
He is said to have made his money through motivational talks and a sponsorship from a security company.
McKenzie also has his own business, namely XConcepts Publications, which recently made headlines after it was dragged to the high court by Nedbank for failing to repay a loan.
Whether the PA’s donation came from this specific company, was not specified.
Meanwhile, numerous websites have published that McKenzie has diversified business interests in restaurants, logistics and transport, imports, mining, energy, virtual reality, entertainment and events, publishing and farming – but no details on these companies have been made public.
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