My Vote Counts seeks to have the veil of secrecy lifted over political donations
The organisation told the Western Cape High Court on Monday it's not enough for parties and independents to only declare who has been supporting them.
Outside the Western Cape High Court. Picture: Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp
CAPE TOWN - Lobby group My Vote Counts wants political parties to declare exactly how they are spending donor funds.
The organisation told the Western Cape High Court on Monday it's not enough for parties and independents to only declare who has been supporting them.
My Vote Counts has on several occasions challenged the country’s electoral and political funding laws. This time it's asking for the recently amended Political Party Funding Act to be declared unconstitutional for its lack of transparency and openness.
My Vote Counts said doesn’t approve of the arbitrary decision to declare R15 million as the ceiling for annual donations to political parties and independents.
It said parliament has failed to show how it arrived at this figure.
The donation limit is currently under review in parliament after it last year removed it completely ahead of elections, only for the court to order its reinstatement.
READ: ActionSA says My Vote Counts' political funding challenge is misguided
On behalf of My Vote Counts, advocate Vlad Movshovich has told the court that it's critical to know how parties are spending private donations and the submission of financial statements to the Electoral Commission is not enough.
The organisation also believes there can't be a one-size-fits-all approach to the donation limit and that the upper limit should be dependent on the size of the party and its links to other parties.
Political parties like the Democratic Alliance (DA) and ActionSA are opposing the application, saying forcing them to declare all political funding even below the current R100,000 threshold, would drive private donors away and their parties would not survive without the support.