The ANC, which is rocked by governance, administrative and financial challenges, has received a disclaimer — the worst possible audit outcome — after failing to meet a September 30 2022 deadline to submit financial statements relating to direct funding to the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC).
However, IEC chair Mosotho Moepya said the governing ANC has since “rectified this omission by submitting revised financial statements, albeit after the prescribed date”.
Moepya made the remarks during a media briefing on Tuesday on the political party funding annual report for the 2021/22 financial year.
By law, the deadline for submission of audited annual financial statements by political parties is September 30 each year. Accordingly, represented political parties were required to submit two sets of financial statements together with the auditors’ opinion form before September 30 2022, Moepya said.
“One set of financial statements would be in respect of the funds [the Represented Political Parties Fund (RPPF), and the Multi-Party Democracy Fund (MPDF)] and the other would be in respect of direct funding to parties, namely; direct donations, membership fees, levies and any other income,” he said.
IEC spokesperson Kate Bapela said: “The ANC is one of the parties that have submitted their direct donations statement after the prescribed time.”
In such cases, the party will be required to make a representation to the IEC. “If found unsatisfactory, the party will be liable for administrative fine as per section 18 of the act.”
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
The Political Party Funding Act, which places a R15m annual limit on the amount of funds a party can receive from a single donor, was enacted in April 2021 and is aimed at providing transparency regarding funds received by political parties from donors.
Under the legislation, the IEC is required to monitor that political parties adhere to the limit as well as disclosure of the funding.
The ANC is dealing with a “cash-flow crisis” that has seen it defaulting on staff salaries and benefits.
During Tuesday’s briefing, Moepya said legislation required the IEC to submit its books and records of account relating to RPPF and MPDF “to the auditor-general of SA, which would then audit and submit a report on those books and records to the commission”.
Besides the ANC, the African Transformation Movement, led by Vuyo Zungula, also failed to submit its financial statements relating to direct funding, while the EFF and the Minority Front submitted their financial statements after the September 30 2022 deadline.
Of the 15 political parties represented in parliament and the nine provincial legislatures, 11 submitted audited financial statements, “making it a considerable 73% submission compliance rate”, said Moepya. The four parties that did not bother to submit financial statements are the African Independent Congress, COPE, National Freedom Party and Pan Africanist Congress of Azania. About 515 political parties are registered with the IEC.
Moepya said the annual financial statements of the ACDP, ATM, DA and GOOD were not “prepared in accordance with the generally recognised accounting practices (GRAP), which is prescribed by the act”.
“It is evident that the veil of secrecy on party funding is beginning to be removed, but a lot more work still needs to be done going forward.”
With Thando Maeko
Update: May 16, 2023
This article has been updated with a comment from the IEC spokesperson
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