Non-governmental organisation My Vote Counts (MVC) announced that it will closely monitor developments around the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill (EMAB), adding that if the need arises, it will take legal action to protect the gains the country has made on political funding transparency.

On Monday President Cyril Ramaphosa assented to the EMAB amid criticism from civil society organisations and political parties.

The Bill was introduced in December 2023 and was necessary to amend several pieces of legislation to allow independent candidates to contest national and provincial elections.

However, the organisation noted that the Bill was also used “opportunistically” by the African National Congress (ANC) to undermine political party funding laws.

“As of now, the EMAB (that legally needs to be in effect before the 29 May elections) is not currently law, and the PPFA [Political Party Funding Act], remains unamended. The President needs to set a date for commencement, at which time it will become operational,” MVC said.

The organisation explained that if the limits were proclaimed simultaneously, this would “avoid the lacuna” (a gap or absence in the law), and if the limits are the same, or close to what they are currently, the impact of this specific amendment, for now at least, will be limited.

The MVC said that its understanding was that the State Attorney was aware of the problem that would arise if the commencement date for the EMAB was not parallel to the proclamation of limits.

“This explains the recent proposal in Parliament to pass a resolution on the limits. Our understanding is that the key limits – the disclosure threshold (currently at R100 000) and the upper limit (currently at R15-million a year) – will remain unchanged or close to what they are currently,” said MVC.

It added that this would avoid the creation of a lacuna in the law, however, it said the entire legal mess could have been avoided, at multiple junctures, if Parliament had done its job, and if the President sent the EMAB back to that institution.  

“This does not, however, deal with the underlying issue – that the EMAB, in relation to the PPFA, is unconstitutional. Vesting all the power with the President to make a final determination of the two limits is open to abuse. We should not be forced into a situation where there is a lack of clarity on such an important issue and be concerned that every time these limits are amended, there could be a conflict of interest,” said MVC.

MVC, and many others, in its submissions to the houses of Parliament as part of the public participation process, warned that the EMAB, in relation to the PPFA, was deeply “flawed and unconstitutional.”

The organisation is of the view that the Bill places too much power in the position of the President to determine the upper limit of donations and the reporting threshold in the PPFA.

It noted that there was no need to amend the PPFA in the way it had been, highlighting that the public participation process on the EMAB in Parliament was “flawed.” 

The MVC highlighted that despite submissions from civil society, opposition parties, and a Parliamentary legal adviser, in March the Portfolio Committee adopted the EMAB and on March 26 the Select Committee adopted it.

Following this, it was sent to Ramaphosa for consideration and signing.