The ANC was the biggest recipient of money from political party donors thanks to one large gift from a company linked to oil and gas explorer Shell, according to a quarterly Electoral Commission (IEC) report that also showed a growing acceptance of the new law aimed at fostering transparency.
The ANC, whose grip on power has been slipping as it grapples with internal battles, corruption scandals involving its leaders and broken electoral promises, garnered R22m, nearly twice as much as the second-biggest beneficiary, the DA.
Still, the ANC’s place on the leader board was helped by one donation from Batho Batho, a trust that owns a controlling stake in Shell’s empowerment partner, Thebe Investment Corporation, which doled out R15m as the ruling party was able to attract the rest of the money from just three other donors.
In contrast, the ten donors including the ultrarich Oppenheimer family and Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Minerals handed the DA money that brought its total for the quarter to R12.5m.
In potentially another sign that the ANC is losing its appeal to financial backers, Harmony Gold gave opposition political parties — including the DA, EFF and IFP — almost as much as the R5m it did the ruling party.
The donation from Batho Batho came while the government was showing support for Shell to proceed with seismic exploration off the Wild Coast, pitting it against environmentalists and communities who say firing high-powered air guns and measuring the echoes to detect oil and gas cavities under the sea bed is harmful to marine life.
The EFF made declarations to the IEC for the first time since the start of the legal requirement to do so in 2021, garnering R3m in donations from businesses such as Harmony Gold, African Rainbow Capital and SA Breweries.
The EFF has previously been criticised for not declaring its donations, with other political parties treating the funding with suspicion given the flashy nature of its party campaigns, especially in the lead-up to the local government elections last year.
But the party has repeatedly defended itself, with EFF president Julius Malema maintaining the party uses funds it gets from parliament and the IEC.
Eleven political parties made declarations amounting to more than R46m, up from the more than R30m declared in the first quarter but short of the nearly R57m declared in the second.
“The commission believes that this is partly a reflection of an improved understanding and wider acceptance of the act and the need for greater transparency with regard to political party funding,” it said in a statement, referring to the Political Party Funding Act.
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