Eustace Mashimbye
WHILE most people are focused entirely on the manifesto promises being made by the many political parties that will be contesting local elections in October (and of course, we should know who and what we are voting for), at Proudly South African we will have an additional interest in the parties’ activities.
Elections represent millions of rand spent collectively on campaigns and rallies. Millions of rand spent on T-shirts, caps, other give-aways, gazebos, posters and pamphlets, among many other promotional, some might say propaganda, items.
Amid much controversy, a new Party Political Funding Act came into effect on April 1 this year, replacing the previous legislation of 1997. Whatever its merits, in a nutshell it regulates the three kinds of funding available to most recognised political parties
Public funding is disbursed by the Represented Political Parties Fund (RPPF) to parties that hold office in national and provincial legislatures. The amounts are allocated on a twothirds proportional and one-third equitable basis.
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The Multiparty Democratic Fund is a fund into which private companies or individuals who wish only to fund the political and democratic process, but no single specific party, can contribute. The disbursement formula is the same as that of the RPPF.
The third funding method is private donor funding, and this now comes with new terms and conditions designed to make the sources of funding more transparent.
