New political party Rise Mzansi has bagged more money by way of donations than any other party in the third quarter of the 2023/2024 financial year.
This is according to the latest financial disclosure report released by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) on Thursday, which shows that Rise Mzansi received R16,744,186.
It's followed closely by ActionSA, with R13,912,450 declared.
Unrepresented in parliament, Rise Mzansi registered with the IEC in September last year and received a R15m cash donation from Rebecca Oppenheimer. The granddaughter of billionaire Nicky Oppenheimer has also made large donations to parties such as the DA and ActionSA.
Another monetary donation declared by Rise Mzansi was R1m received from an entity named Main Street 1564.
Other donations declared by the party were two “in-kind donations” valued at R184,228 and R559,958 received from InJozi Design and Kairos Communication respectively. The former was in the form of website development for the party, while the latter donation was in the form of “printing and flighting of the party’s posters nationwide”.
ActionSA, which declared the second-largest donations for the quarter, received its biggest monetary gift from the party’s regular donors (R7.4m) and R5m from Martin Moshal, the billionaire owner of Betway and other companies.
The balance of the donations received were from entities and individuals named African Equity Corporation with a donation of R1m, SHIYAN 80422 (R150,000), Solomon David Group (R127,750) and Alan Beesley (R148,000).
The ANC got the third-highest, with R10m declared as having been received from the Chancellor House Trust, which is linked to the party. There were no other donations.
Mmusi Maimane's Build One South Africa (BOSA) declared R8.5m from two individuals, Jessica Bridget Slack Jell with R6m and Martin Moshal with R2m. An entity called RTH Investments donated R500,000.
The Patriotic Alliance declared R7,096,380 from eight donors. Party leader Gayton McKenzie was the biggest donor for the quarter with R2,759,130, while deputy Kenny Kunene coughed up R1,007,250.
There has been a steady increase in the value of donations disclosed for the third quarter, which is in some ways indicative of the heightened fundraising activities by political parties in preparation for the upcoming elections
— IEC
Other donors were entities named RED C2, Downtown Spares, XMOOR Transport, Metrowired, XTX Trade and an individual named Rapula Mogaki.
The DA declared just over R2.5m, with contributions “in kind” and monetary donations from six sources.
“The largest donation of R1m was received from an entity named Artemis Properties, followed by Beacon Rock which gave R999,711.81.”
Other donations were received from Joof Alberts Trust (R250,000), Indawo (Cape) (R150.000), Mr A Dymond (R136,500) and regular donor Friedrich Naumann Foundation with a combined in-kind and monetary donation of R71,797.24. The hybrid donation went towards the cost of communications training for DA members.
At the bottom of the list was the IFP, declaring only a R191,040 donation made in kind for a training workshop for party members employed in the national, provincial and local spheres of government.
“There has been a steady increase in the value of donations disclosed for the third quarter, which is in some ways indicative of the heightened fundraising activities by political parties in preparation for the upcoming elections,” said the IEC.
The commission reported on R71,797 and R191,040 declared by the DA and the IFP respectively.
“For each of these parties, the donations were compliant with the legislation in that they did not exceed the set limit of R5m per party per financial year and were used for purposes sanctioned by the law.”
In the third quarter, the Multiparty Democracy Fund received a contribution of R5m from Standard Bank, a regular donor. Donations to the fund are distributed proportionally to political parties represented in parliament.
“For the Electoral Commission, this is an indication that there are some in the corporate sector that recognise the role that corporate South Africa can play to strengthen multiparty democracy in South Africa. The commission continues to call on other corporate entities and individual members of society to take up the challenge and support this good cause.”
The total value of donations declared for the third quarter of the 2023/24 financial year was R59,052,065.82.
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.