Multi-Party Democracy Fund empty as private donations dry up

Businesses contribution to political parties via the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC’s) Multi-Party Democracy Fund (MPDF) has dwindled resulting in no money being distributed to political parties from the fund in 2026.

The allocation applies to all parties represented in parliament, regardless of size and could add pressure on smaller parties that depend more on the pooled fund than on direct private donations from businesses and individuals in South Africa.

Run by the IEC, the fund allows companies, individuals and other organisations to donate money to political parties without giving directly to them.

The fund is intended to reduce the risk of undue political influence by allowing donors to support democratic participation without forming direct financial relationships with political parties.

Should the trend continue it could hit small parties before the local government elections this year.

Parties in parliament also receive allotted funds from the Treasury annually, which are audited by the auditor-general.

Donations paid into the fund are shared out every quarter, with one-third divided equally among all represented parties and the remaining two-thirds allocated in proportion to the number of seats each party holds in legislatures.

The latest data released by the IEC regarding the donations to the MPDF gives credence to a 2025 report on political party funding by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), which found that there was dwindling willingness from private individuals to donate to the MPDF.

The report said there is a positive association between confidence in the commission’s ability to manage the MPDF and willingness to donate to the fund. People who were highly confident in the commission’s management skills were thus also more likely to want to donate to the MPDF, the HSRC report said.

In a gazette published in January, the commission confirmed the fund for the first quarter of 2026 had dwindled to zero.

The fund, created under the Political Party Funding Act of 2018, aims to support multiparty democracy through voluntary private donations that are shared among parties represented in parliament and provincial legislatures.

The zero balance for the first three months of this year is because the fund did not receive any contributions during the preceding quarter of September–December 2025, the IEC said.

The fund recorded positive contributions in the first three quarters of last year. In the first quarter of last year, the commission reported that just R395,000 was available for distribution, already indicating weak donor participation.

That was followed by a stronger second quarter, when more than R2.4m was allocated in April-June, before falling again to about R249,000 in the July-to-September period.

“By its design, the MPDF receives contributions from corporates and individuals, who contribute to the fund voluntarily. As a result, it is not possible to guarantee that there will always be contributions to the fund every quarter,” the IEC told Business Day in emailed responses. “The Electoral Commission does, however, continually embark on campaigns to create awareness about the fund. Interventions include stakeholder engagements and a digital campaign instituted to encourage South Africans to donate.

“Parties do have a variety of funding sources from which they can acquire funding. The MPDF plays the role of supplementary, rather than primary, funding for South Africa’s represented political parties whenever there are funds available to distribute.

“Lack of funds in the fund should therefore not directly undermine any competition among parties considering its nature as a source of funding for political parties.”