ActionSA has welcomed the Electoral Commission's response on a request for an investigations into suspected non-disclosure of donations by the MK Party and the EFF. Image: Se-Anne Rall/IOL
ActionSA has welcomed the Electoral Commission's response following its request to look into suspected non-disclosure of donations to the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Jacob Zuma's Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK) Party.
According to ActionSA national chairperson, Michael Beaumont, as per the Party Funding Act, auditors are required to provide a full breakdown of donations both above and below the threshold.
He said ActionSA approached the IEC's political party funding division to address what it called discrepancies between the funds reported by these political parties and the sizeable national and provincial election campaigns they conducted.
Beaumont said the EFF disclosed R3.5million for the Quarter 1 2022/23 to Quarter 1 2024/25 financial period.
"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," he said.
He added that the MK Party declared only R380 555 in the first of the 2024/25, 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," Beaumont said.
"It's encouraging that the IEC has formally responded to our request. Whilst they indicate no prima facie substance to the complaint, we welcome 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 September 30 deadline," said explained.
He added that Action takes this as an indication that the electoral body is aware of the issue ahead of their publishing of party financial statements.
He said ActionSA will engage with the IEC on this matter in the months ahead.
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