{"id":835476,"date":"2025-08-19T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=835476"},"modified":"2025-08-19T17:13:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T15:13:21","slug":"ramaphosa-proclaims-new-laws-to-put-more-secret-money-in-the-hands-of-politicians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/835476\/ramaphosa-proclaims-new-laws-to-put-more-secret-money-in-the-hands-of-politicians\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramaphosa proclaims new laws to put more ‘secret’ money in the hands of politicians"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

President Cyril Ramaphosa has issued a proclamation amending the regulations on political party funding in South Africa, doubling the thresholds for when funding needs to be declared, and for how much a single donar can give.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proclamation impacts the Political Party Funding Act (PPFA), which was enacted in 2018 and enforced from 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Act was designed to promote transparency by regulating how political parties receive public and private funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time of implementation, it required disclosure of private donations above R100,000 and capped individual contributions at R15 million per year, while banning donations from foreign governments and state entities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Ramaphosa has now proclaimed that this can be doubled to R200,000 for disclosure and R30 million for an individual contribution.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, the Electoral Matters Amendment Act (EMAA) was passed to accommodate independent candidates, granting them access to public funding and allowing them to contest national and provincial elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the EMAA controversially removed the PPFA’s disclosure thresholds and donation limits, pending a presidential proclamation that was delayed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This created a legal vacuum for some time until the courts reinforced it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Assembly then resolved to raise the minimum disclosure threshold and increase the maximum permissible donation per donor per financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This resolution is now in effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to civil advocacy group My Vote Counts (MVC), South Africa now faces a much more secretive political funding system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said it would also be easier for private interests to influence political parties and for corruption to occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This is a politically expedient power grab that diminishes our ability to exercise constitutional rights, namely, our political rights and our right of access to information,” the group said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hidden hands in deeper pockets<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The main issue, MVC said, is that the details of all donations under R200,000 will not be known to the public. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a significant sum, with the state never providing a legitimate reason as to why the details should be hidden from public view in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disclosures over the past four years have shown that a handful of wealthy individuals dominate private political funding in the country. MVC said these players can now have even greater influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Doubling the amount a donor can donate to a party in a year to R30 million will give donors an even greater ability to have an outsized influence on our political system,” the group said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“And because the law does not regulate donations from related parties through the different legal entities they control, wealthy donors can now have an even more significant impact.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MVC said that it will consider legal options to challenge Ramaphosa’s proclamation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group launched a legal challenge against the Constitutionality of the PPFA in 2023, which was only heard in February 2025. Judgment in the matter is still pending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the challenge, the group argued that the original limits were not formulated with reference to empirical evidence and were therefore irrational and unlawful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It asked the court to find the limits unconstitutional and refer them back to Parliament for remedying. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also asked the court to find that the President\u2019s power to make the final determination on the limits was also unconstitutional because it placed too much power in a conflicted officeholder who is both head of the Executive and, in most cases, the head of a political party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Should our case succeed, the amendments to the Act will be set aside with full retrospective effect, including the determination of these new limits,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president’s proclamation can be read below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n