My Vote Counts says it's vindicated by court ruling reinstating political party funding thresholds
My Vote Counts had brought the matter to court, wanting it to reinstate the donation limit at R15 million and the disclosure threshold at R100,000 for both parties and independents.
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CAPE TOWN - Civil society organisation, My Vote Counts, said it was vindicated by the Western Cape High Court's ruling reinstating political party and independent candidates' funding thresholds.
The NGO had brought the matter to court, challenging the Electoral Matters Amendment Act.
It wanted the court to reinstate the donation limit at R15 million and the disclosure threshold at R100,000 for both parties and independents.
The regulations were removed by President Cyril Ramaphosa when he enacted the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill, allowing parties to receive unlimited funding they would not have to declare.
Last week, Judge Daniel Thulare granted My Vote Counts's request.
Senior researcher at My Vote Counts, Joel Bregman, said they were happy this gap had been closed.
"We're looking at how public funding can potentially become more of the main funder of our politics. In that way, it is more accountable to the people. We also have to examine what political parties need to actually operate.
“These are the numbers that they provide to us - they host enormous functions, they have things which we might not necessarily be directly involved in, in the functioning of a party. So, there's a lot of unknowns around what it actually costs to run a party."