The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has allocated R5-million to parties represented in Parliament - and the African National Congress (ANC) will receive the most from the electoral commission pay-day, in line with regulations governing the multi-party democracy fund.

But ActionSA - which opposes the type of funding that gives a slight advantage to the ANC and others - has joined those questioning just how the party went from only having R100 000 in the bank, to managing to get into an out-of-court settlement with Ezulweni Investments over a R102-million debt for election campaign related work from the 2019 general election.

Social media was awash with questions about how the party was able to fund its 112th birthday celebration at the weekend, given its persistent financial woes. 

The allocation means the ANC, as the biggest party, will receive the largest share.

The information about the R5-million funding is contained in a government notice, dated 12 January, and advises that a total amount available for allocation for the period 1 January 2024 until 31 March 2024 to represented political parties from the multi-party democracy fund is R5 001 319.

This will be shared among the parties with seat representation in Parliament. 

ActionSA party chairperson Michael Beaumont has insisted that the ANC was concealing its source of funding given its announcement that it was debt free.

Beaumont said there is a "link" between Ezulweni Investments and state contracts which shows the "reasonable fear that South Africans may find themselves paying for this settlement".

He said ActionSA is awaiting confirmation from the ANC treasurer-general, Dr Gwen Ramokgopa, on whether she will implement President Cyril Ramaphosa's offer to avail the documents in the interests of transparency.

"The revelation of this connection to state contracts has been revealed in a tender awarded by the Newcastle Local Municipality to Gladmod Transport and Shories Project 47, which lists Mr Renash Ramdas as its sole Director according to the Companies And Intellectual Property Commission. This is the same Ramesh Ramdas who is listed as the CEO of Ezulweni Investments in the court papers against the ANC and who is believed to be married to the sole Director of Ezulweni Investments, Ms Ashnee Ramdas," Beaumont said.

He went on to say: "The tender itself was for the amount of R200 000 issued on 27 October 2021 for the provision events services for an imbizo for the mayor of Newcastle Municipality, days before the 2021 local government elections. The reality is that no central repository exists for tenders across all spheres, departments and entities government in South Africa that would allow for a deeper assessment of how business interests connected to the Ramdas family may have benefitted more substantially from state contracts."

He said this shows that key players in Ezulweni Investments are registered suppliers who do businesses with the state and are beneficiaries of state contracts, "undoubtedly" of more than just the Newcastle example.

"Of further interest is that this tender was awarded in October 2021 [at] a time in which the ANC's debt would have been accruing legal costs and interest for nearly three years," Beaumont said. 

"It follows that the nature of the debt settlement agreement between the ANC and Ezulweni Investments represents a reasonable and rational concern that part or whole of the debt may be paid through future business conducted between the state and the Ramdas family. This matter can no longer be purported to be a private matter between the ANC and its creditor, but now directly involves all South Africans."

He said in light of the liquidation process revealing that the ANC had less than R60 000 in all its bank accounts and failed to pay salaries for the most of 2023, there was no doubt that the sudden announcement of a solution, followed by the extravagant 8 January statement in Mpumalanga, brings into serious question the source of the funds.

"It is vital that the details of donors who have funded this settlement be published so that it can be determined if any of them are beneficiaries of state tenders," Beaumont said. 

"If the evidence of the connection between Ezulweni Investments and state contracts can be detected on a simple desktop research exercise, it is clear that we are only beginning to scratch the surface of a debt settlement that may be predicated on South Africans settling this debt."

He said his party will fight so the ANC could be more transparent on this issue. 

News24 has made several attempts to have a sit-down with Ezulweni director, Ashnee Ramdas, who hasn't responded to the request.

She didn't respond to a request for comment on ActionSA's claims.

Beaumont rejected the multi-party fund. He said the fund's beneficiaries were not chosen by voters.

"The beneficiaries of that fund remain those political parties represented in Parliament, even though ActionSA is the sixth biggest party having contested only six of 278 municipalities in 2021. We're excluded from such funds while parties like Al Jama-ah, the ATM and all sorts of non-entities in Parliament are benefitting from that fund," he said.

"It's also necessary to say [the multi-party democracy fund] is a failed concept. There is no donor in their right mind in South Africa who will donate in such a manner where the money goes to the DA and the EFF because a donor will invariably have an outlook of what is wrong in South Africa," Beaumont said.

"They will have a policy preference in terms of how their problem should be addressed. And why would they want their money to be split between parties that hold widely-varying views on how to address that policy?"

He said the fund was a failure and funders opted against it. 

In a statement to News24, the IEC communications team said the R5 million is the total amount to be allocated to all 15 represented parties. 

"The total amount is going to be allocated to each party in accordance with the formula of proportional [share] which is 67% and equitable [share] which is 33%," the IEC said.

"The formula of proportional [share] is based on the number of seats or representation that the party has at National Assembly and provincial legislature. Equitable [share] is allocated equally amongst the parties represented in both National Assembly and provincial legislature."

Meanwhile DA spokesperson on finance, Dr Dion George, said: "The question has to be asked: how does the ANC afford to pay for its massive stadium events and various other activity, when they have previously stated they had problems paying their staff, then got sued by Ezulweni for the banners that they never paid for, and then the arrangement that made this debt go away."

He said the IEC needed to be asked how the ANC and other parties have conspicuous events and then "declare nothing".

"Where is this money coming from?" he asked.