/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

ActionSA welcomes the Independent Electoral Commission's (IEC) encouraging response regarding our request for an investigation into the alleged non-disclosure of electoral funds by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK). 

It's encouraging that the IEC has formally responded to our request. Whilst they indicate no prima facie substance to the complaint, ActionSA welcomes that the IEC has indicated that the question of a discrepancy between the revenue and the campaigns of these parties would be interrogated through the annual financial statements currently under review following the 30 September 2024 deadline. ActionSA takes this as an indication that the IEC is aware of the issue ahead of their publishing of party financial statements. 

Section 12(3) of the Party Funding Act requires that auditors provide a full breakdown of donations received above and below the threshold which, read together with the IEC’s response, places the Commission in the position to assess whether the campaigns of these parties could have been lawfully funded based on their revenue. 

On 02 September, ActionSA formally reached out to Mr. George Mahlangu, the Head of the IEC's Political Party Funding Division, to address significant discrepancies between the funds reported by these political parties and the sizable National and Provincial Election campaigns they conducted.

The EFF has disclosed a mere R3.5 million for the financial period spanning Q1 22/23 to Q1 24/25. This figure starkly contrasts with the extensive resources evidenced by their campaign, which included numerous stadium rallies, the distribution of millions of branded merchandise such as t-shirts and posters, entertainment expenses, and much more. We estimate the grand total of their campaign outlay to be no less than R200 million.

Similarly, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party declared only R380 555 in the first of the 2024/2025, despite appearing to mount a well-resourced campaign. 

In our detailed correspondence with the IEC, we articulated that the financial disclosures from both the EFF and MK fall glaringly short of their visible campaign expenditures of these parties, thus leading to reasonable suspicion of non-compliance with the Political Party Funding Act (PPFA).

ActionSA will proactively engage with the IEC on this matter in the months ahead. It remains crucial for all parties to be held to the same standards to maintain integrity in the electoral process. This matter also raises the toothless nature of the Party Funding Act that is being interpreted by the IEC to ignore the obvious fact that the campaigns of these parties are not explicable in relation to their declared revenue. ActionSA suggests that serious reforms will be required to the legislation for the appropriate degree of cynicism to be employed in the investigation of party compliance to the act. 

Continued engagement and formal correspondence with the IEC will be vital as we pursue this case, and we thus welcome their positive formal correspondence.

Issued by ActionSA National Chairperson Michael Beaumont