The Western Cape High Court has dismissed an application by My Vote Counts (MVC) challenging the constitutionality of the Political Funding Act (PFA).
When the application was initiated 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 all donations above R100,000 (disclosure threshold) a year.
The MVC contended that setting a threshold on the disclosure of private donations was not constitutionally permissible as constitutional imperatives demanded that all donations must be disclosed. MVC also said even if the setting of the threshold was permissible, the threshold was too high.
MVC also argued that the donation limit of R15m was excessive and unjustifiable. It said the prescribed limit of R15m gave wealthy private donors the undue ability to influence political parties in a manner that undermined the right to vote, as it left the door wide open for private interests to direct the course of politics.
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 this week, President Cyril Ramaphosa, in a government gazette and acting on a resolution taken by the National Assembly in May, raised the limit for private donations to political parties to R30m a year and increased the disclosure threshold to R200,000 per year.
In its application, 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.
MVC also sought an order that the failure by the National Assembly to enable the president to make the determinations immediately was unconstitutional and invalid.
However, the high court 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.
My Vote Counts said it was studying the judgment and consulting with its legal team.
“The reason we went to court was to curb elite influence over our politics, to strengthen voter accountability over public representatives and to deepen the right of access information so we can vote and exercise our political rights from an informed position,” MVC project lead on money in politics Koel Bregman said.
TimesLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.