Group of political parties in Parly threaten court action if changes to funding formula made law
The aggrieved parties want President Cyril Ramaphosa to reject the bill as passed by the National Assembly last week or prepare for an eleventh-hour Constitutional Court battle.
Representatives from the IFP, UDM, PAC, ACDP, Good and FF Plus on 19 March 2024 make an appeal to the president to reject aspects of the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill that changes the funding formula for the allocation of state funds. Picture: Lindsay Dentlinger/Eyewitness News
CAPE TOWN - A broad church of political parties in Parliament say they are ready to go to court if changes to the funding model from state coffers is signed into law.
They are appealing to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) to reject these sections of the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill, which will see their funding dramatically reduced.
Meanwhile, they estimate the African National Congress (ANC) could boost their election budget by as much as R52 million.
The aggrieved parties want President Cyril Ramaphosa to reject the bill as passed by the National Assembly last week or prepare for an eleventh-hour Constitutional Court battle.
Opposition parties led by the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) say their intention is not to scupper the election.
But they say changing the funding formula intended to enhance multi-party democracy flies in the face of a Constitutional Court judgment on political party funding.
The amendments will see the current two-thirds proportional and one-third equitable funding model being replaced with a 90% proportional and 10% equitable model.
Again accusing the ANC of a money grab, parties say the change has been snuck through the back door on a bill intended to make provision for independent candidates to declare their donations.
IFP chief whip, Narend Singh: "If this bill proceeds, the ANC will show South Africans that it is willing to forego any values and principles in the pursuit of staying in power. We, as opposition parties in Parliament, will not allow such an assault on our democracy and will, if all other avenues fail, resort to legal action."
The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Freedom Front Plus, Good, African Independent Congress (AIC), United Democratic Movement (UDM) and Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) have all joined the pact.
Although the Democratic Alliance (DA) does not stand to lose financially from changes to the funding formula, it’s also supporting the planned action out of principle.