Lead: My Vote Counts on Political Party Funding

Robyn Pasensie | Political Party Funding Researcher at My Vote Counts

My Vote Counts started out as a campaign in 2012 looking into the private funding of political parties. We tried using the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to gain this information but found we couldn’t do so.

We then approached the courts as we felt this was something that needed to be rectified. In 2017, the Western Cape High Court ruled in MVC’s favour deeming PAIA unconstitutional as it does not allow for the disclosure of private political party funding.

Parliament was given 18 months to rectify this. The matter was then heard in the Constitutional Court in 2018 where the Court upheld the Western Cape High Court’s order. The Promotion of Access to Information Amendment Act was enacted on 1 April 2021.

The amendment made to the Promotion of Access to Information Act seeks to provide for information on the private funding of political parties and independent candidates to be recorded, preserved and made available.

This advocacy has also lead to the enactment of the Political Party Funding Act on 1 April 2021.

The Political Party Funding Act (PPFA) is a piece of legislation that regulates how political parties in South Africa are funded.