Party members to pay as they go?
THE ANC has some quirky ideas for raising funds over the next five years - selling cellphone airtime is one of the revenue streams considered in the party's financial report.
Fundraising is the ANC's most important source of revenue, contributing as much as 72% of its R1.49-billion income since January 2008.
But tougher economic times have put fundraising under pressure.
The report urges the party to make sure that the Political Party Funding Bill is passed.
A grant from the Independent Electoral Commission - based on the ANC's share of the electorate - currently accounts for 15% of its revenue. Apart from giving itself and other political parties access to more public funds, the report says the ANC needs "to leverage on the quantity" of its members.
The report, by outgoing treasurer-general Mathews Phosa, suggests that members contribute a percentage of their income, 3%, to the party every month. Membership fees account for only 3% of the party's revenue.
The report lists other opportunities that could be "mined" from members:
- Selling pre-paid airtime, in which the party is considering joint ventures with service providers;
- ANC merchandise. The party wants to look at "exploiting the 'brand' that is already a hit in the market place";
- Loyalty programmes at large retailers, where it sees an opportunity "to use its membership base to extract value"; and
- Insurance. The ANC wants to work with an established insurance underwriter to provide life, endowment and bereavement-support products to its members.
SHARE YOUR OPINION
If you have an opinion you would like to share on this article, please send us an e-mail to the Times LIVE iLIVE team. In the mean time, click here to view the Times LIVE iLIVE section.JerryYatriq
Posted 180 days agoWith all "Maungaung" and other public displays of fictional democracy goings on and the daily cost of maintaining party infrastructure and events without visible means of support, let alone maintaining party and alliance office bearers in the lifestyle they they have become accustomed to, is there anyone who is really surprised that the South African public, taxpayers in particular are not allowed to be properly informed as to who benefited from "The Arms Deal", let alone to whom the toll gantries toll.
As the "democratic" battle cry goes:
Yes we caNkandla, Yes we caNkandla!
I wonder if the Ladies of the Presidential Harem do not feel somewhat neglected
when the Chief Resident is busy doing what's due to them to everyone else instead!
Viva our Kleptocratic "Democracy"
As new Toll Roads, no doubt, will also start tolling to satisfy our Kleptocratic leadership thirst for cash, just remember that one day the disillusioned poor masses may turn Church Square or the disunity buildings into a South African style "Tahrir Square" and the bunkers of Nkandndla may not serve their chief resident much better than the bunkers of Tripoli' served their "Brother Leader".