My Vote Counts NPC (MVC) says it has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa requesting written reasons for and the complete record that informed his proclamation in August that doubled the disclosure threshold and annual donation limit in the Political Funding Act.
It has asked that he respond by the close of business on October 20.
In the proclamation issued in the government gazette on August 18, Ramaphosa raised the limit for private donations to political parties from R15m to R30m a year and increased the disclosure threshold by recipients from R100,000 to R200,000 per year.
In the letter to the president dated September 19, MVC said Ramaphosa was by law required to furnish written reasons for the relevant decisions as well as all supporting documentation.
“Should reasons not be furnished timeously, MVC will assume that no reasons exist for the president’s proclamation or the decision relating to the determination of the new thresholds, and that no record exists,” the letter read.
MVC said it had also launched two applications for leave to appeal against the Western Cape High Court judgment in August which dismissed MVC’s challenge of the constitutionality of the Political Funding Act (PFA). One is before the high court and the other before the Constitutional Court.
When the MVC initiated its application in 2023, a political party could not accept a donation from a person or entity in excess of R15m in a financial year (donation limit) and a political party was obliged to disclose to the Electoral Commission of South Africa all donations above R100,000 (disclosure threshold) a year.
In May 2024, the Electoral Matters Amendment Act (EMMA) became operational, amending the PFA. In its amended form, the PFA did not provide specific amounts in respect of the donation limit or disclosure threshold but provided how these were to be determined. The president did not issue simultaneous proclamations to set the new upper limits and disclosure thresholds.
As a result of the removal of the disclosure threshold and upper donation limit, MVC approached the court which in May 2024 reinstated them, pending either the finalisation of these proceedings or the determination of the threshold and limit by the president.
However, Ramaphosa raised the limits for private donations to political parties and disclosure threshold on August.
In its application to the high court, MVC had sought an order declaring the president’s failure to determine the upper donation limit and disclosure threshold upon the enactment of the EMAA or within a reasonable time irrational, unconstitutional and invalid.
However, the high court, in its judgment on August 21, found the case was now moot.
“This challenge has been rendered moot by the president’s recent determination of the upper donation limit and disclosure threshold,” said judge Nathan Erasmus in a judgment concurred with by judges Hayley Slingers and Melanie Holderness.
MVC said on Monday the high court application for leave to appeal was conditional on the Constitutional Court application being refused by the apex court.
“What this means is that the high court application is subject to the Constitutional Court application, in the sense that if the Constitutional Court denies MVC direct leave to appeal, then MVC will persist with the high court application.
“If on the other hand the Constitutional Court grants MVC leave to appeal, then the high court application will, by virtue of its conditional nature, fall away,” said Joel Bregman, MVC project lead on money in politics.
TimesLIVE
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