The latest declarations published by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) revealed that political parties collected more than R97,2 million in donations in the last months, and watchdog groups, My Vote Counts (MVC) and Corruption Watch have warned that the donations are not as transparent as they are meant to be.
The organisations have criticised the funding environment, arguing that higher legal donation limits and loose regulations allow wealthy elites to bypass transparency measures and exert disproportionate influence over politics.
This comes ahead of the 2026 local government elections, scheduled for November 4, 2026.
This reporting cycle continues under the revised disclosure framework approved by the National Assembly, which increased the disclosure threshold from R100,000 to R200,000, and the annual upper donation limit from R15m to R30m.
Five political parties made declarations during the reporting period, including late and cumulative declarations.
- Democratic Alliance – R57,317, 303
- RISE Mzansi – R30,000,000
- ActionSA – R9,910,432
- Alliance of Citizens for Change (A.C.C.) – R440,500
- Build One South Africa (Bosa) – R113,794
Political parties collectively declared R97,227,735 during the fourth quarter. The total donations quantum comprises R94,778,903 in monetary donations and R2,448,832 in in-kind donations.
However, MVC said the last four years of disclosure data show that a handful of wealthy individuals dominate the private political funding landscape, adding that doubling the amount a donor can donate to a party in a year to R30m, gives donors an even greater ability to have an outsized influence on “our” political system.
MVC senior researcher, Joel Bregman, said this also make parties more susceptible to undue influence.
“Because the law does not regulate donations from related parties through the different legal entities they control, wealthy donors can now have an even more significant impact by donating through different entities,” he said.
The increase of the political donation disclosure threshold to R200,000 and the annual upper donation limit to R30 million was officially signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa in August last year.
MVC challenged these limits in the Western Cape High Court, but the case was dismissed. The organisation argued against the high thresholds and the constitutionality of the President having the power to determine these limits.
Bregman added that raising the disclosure threshold to R200,000 fosters political secrecy by hiding significant donations from public scrutiny and preventing the accountability necessary to ensure donors do not receive unlawful favors in return.
He said the government has never provided a legitimate reason why all donations should not be disclosed to the public.
“A higher disclosure threshold means more secrecy in political funding. The details of all donations under R200,000 will not be known to the public. This is an enormous sum for most South Africans and donations of such amounts should be made public knowledge to facilitate scrutiny of parties’ relationships with donors and ensure that donors are not receiving anything in return,” he said.
Corruption Watch spokesperson Janine Erasmus also believes that the higher threshold makes public scrutiny more difficult and parties more susceptible to undue influence.
She added that this also undermines the public’s right to know who funds their politicians, which the PPFA was intended, in part, to address.
“We will not be able to see which individuals or organisations made donations of less than R200,000, with this reporting threshold having doubled. This increases secrecy in political funding, with a consequent increase in the risk of corruption. Donors will be able to make multiple or consecutive donations under R200,000 without disclosing such donations, and potentially gain greater influence,” she said.
The IEC revealed that the 30m declaration made by the Rise Mzansi reflects a previous loan turned into a donation.
The IEC added that it is yet to clarify the terms of this conversion.
“Consequently, the Electoral Commission will further engage with the party on this loan-donation conversion to ascertain compliance with the requirements of the Act.”
ActionSA received R5m from businessman Martin Moshal. The party also receives R2.9m from party leader Herman Mashaba, among others.
The DA declared the highest donation quantum for the reporting period, amounting to R57,317,303.55 and representing almost 60% of all declared donations. This comprised R54,868,471 in monetary donations and R24,48,832.50 in in-kind donations.
Major donations to the DA, ranging from R10m to R13m, were received from regular party donors. These include Main Street 1564 Pty Ltd; Fynbos Ekwiteit (Pty) Ltd; Fynbos Kapitaal Proprietary Limited. Other significant donations include the Danish Liberal Democracy Programme and various other donations ranging from R225,000 to R532,000.
The largest in-kind donation, valued at R1,755,777, was received from Voices of South Africa Foundation NPC.
Further in-kind support of R693 055.30, together with a monetary donation of R38,524,47, was received from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF), which is a regular donor to the party.
The declarations also included foreign-linked donations from the Danish Liberal Democracy Programme and FNF.
A.C.C. declared a monetary donation of R440,500 from the party’s founding leader, Masizole Mnqasela. The donation was made in February 2025 and is thus declared approximately one year late. The party has been issued with a directive in terms of section 15 of the Act to provide representations regarding the late disclosure.
Build One South Africa (BOSA) declared an in-kind donation valued at R113,794.60 from Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) NPC.
“Although below the disclosure threshold, cumulative donations from the same donor triggered the reporting requirement. The donation related to governance and political development support activities,” said the IEC.
Meanwhile, the commission said it has issued a formal directive to the ANC, demanding representations to explain R10,5 million in late donation disclosures.
According to the IEC’s report, the late disclosures fall under Botho Botho Commercial Enterprises (Pty) Ltd (R10,000,000) and a R501,230,21 from the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES).
The party was also asked to account for an additional R770,000 in donor funds (R500,000 from Valumax Projects to the ANC Ekurhuleni branch and R270,000 from Captrust Investments) that were declared by the donors but had not been acknowledged by the party at the time the report was published.
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