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The DA declared the highest amount of donations for the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, bringing in more than R57.3m, surpassing the third quarter’s R31m in donations.
This was revealed by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) in its latest political party donations report, which covers the period from January 1 to March 31.
During this reporting period, five political parties declared a collective total of R97,227,745. Of these funds, R94,778,903 consisted of direct monetary donations, while R2,448,832 was received as in-kind contributions.
The five parties and their declared totals are:
1. DA: R57.31m
2. RISE Mzansi: R30m
3. ActionSA: R9.91m
4. Alliance of Citizens for Change (ACC): R440,500
5. Build One South Africa (BOSA): R113,794
Representing nearly 60% of all funds declared by the five parties, the DA secured the largest donation share. More than R54m of its total came from monetary funding, while over R2m was allocated as in-kind donations. The funds were contributed by several donors, with major individual donations ranging between R10m and R13m.
The DA’s declarations also included foreign-linked funding from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) and the Danish Liberal Democracy Programme.
“These donations appear to be in line with permissible foreign donations,” the IEC stated.
Meanwhile, ActionSA’s R9,910,432 in monetary donations came from three distinct contributors, including a R2.9m injection from party leader Herman Mashaba.
The ACC’s declared R440,500 was donated by its founding leader, Masizole Mnqasela, though the IEC noted it was declared a year late. BOSA’s funding consisted entirely of an in-kind donation from a single contributor.
The IEC highlighted that RISE Mzansi declared a single R30m contribution, which was converted from a previous loan into a formal donation.
“The terms of this conversion are still to be clarified by the commission,” the IEC noted. “Consequently, the Electoral Commission will further engage with the party on this loan-donation conversion to ascertain compliance with the requirements of the act.”
Regarding the ANC, the commission noted that the party received a total of R770,000 across March and April, which it had not yet formally acknowledged at the time of the report’s publication. Additionally, two late donations to the ANC, totalling R10,501,230, were also highlighted by the commission.
The Multi-Party Democracy Fund (MPDF), managed by the IEC, received R4.5m in contributions during this quarter. This included R3m from Vodacom SA and R1.5m from Standard Bank.
The IEC encouraged more companies to support the fund to help sustain political participation. The commission reiterated its commitment to maintaining transparency and accountability in political funding.
While this report was finalised just before the announcement of the upcoming local government elections scheduled for November 4, the IEC highlighted that the size and scale of these declarations “demonstrate that the election season is firmly under way.”
TimesLIVE
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