ActionSA opposes ill-considered case of My Vote Counts
27 July 2023
ActionSA has, today, announced that we are in the process of filing papers opposing elements of the litigation launched by My Vote Counts (MVC) who recently filed papers in the Western Cape High Court. MVC’s papers seek, amongst other things, to remove any disclosure limit for donations received by political parties.
From the outset, it must be stated that ActionSA is arguably the most compliant political party in respect of the Political Party Funding Act (PPFA). We continue to disclose donations and file audits with clean audit outcomes.
ActionSA has sought to engage MVC on the elements of their litigation which will have a profound and far-reaching negative impact on South Africa’s young democracy. Regrettably, MVC failed to respond to these requests consistent with the manner they served papers on parties only represented in the National Assembly. It appears that MVC is either ignorant or unphased about the effect of their litigation on new emerging political parties which are proving vital to a democracy increasingly disinterested in the offerings of the political establishment.
The papers filed by MVC will serve to entrench a system of political incumbency in South Africa through disincentivising private fundraising – the only mechanism through which new parties can compete with established political parties who continue to receive their share of R1.3 billion in state funding each year. Through their papers, it can be deduced that MVC’s actions seek to reduce the extent to which emerging parties are funded by donations from South Africans.
The real-world experience of law-abiding parties like ActionSA is that South Africans who donate to our party do so from a love of their country and a desire to see change with many recognising ActionSA as the vehicle essential to the project of change in South Africa. Many donors choose to donate below the R100 000 disclosure limit out of a real and justifiable fear of experiencing reprisal from the ANC or DA. Removing this disclosure threshold will dissuade many from contributing to new emerging parties like ActionSA and leave such parties to compete with established parties who, despite being in decline as South Africans reject them, continue to award themselves a fortune in taxpayer funding. This move to remove disclosure limits will also throttle crowdfunding initiatives by requiring the collection of multiple data points on every donor even when donating micro-donations that could not reasonably be considered a threat to buying influence in a political party.
ActionSA is not opposed to the principles of transparency behind disclosing party funding. As a party, we have led the way in compliance while all other major parties in South Africa have serious allegations or findings against their compliance. Had MVC had the humility to accept the meeting with ActionSA they would have found an ally in ActionSA as it relates to what should have been the real battle from of party funding – compliance enforcement. In this regard, ActionSA will propose, amongst other things, that:
The IEC establish a compliance unit to investigate allegations of non-compliance and that the Electoral Court be mandated to hear cases.
That parties should submit stamped bank statements on a quarterly basis.
That party expense audits assess whether lavish election campaigns can plausibly be funded on the income being disclosed by parties.
South Africans cannot be disenfranchised any further by an unelected non-profit company clumsily litigating with the effect of defunding emerging political parties. Despite the myriad reasons to vote, 26 million South Africans of voting age have opted out of voting precisely because established parties offer little inspiration for change. To reinforce incumbency and further reduce the prospects of emerging parties offering much-needed new choices is an assault on the very democracy that MVC purports to fight for.
We remain open to engaging MVC should they wish to engage in the interests of a robust multi-party democracy functioning effectively for the millions of South Africans who seek change in their country but for whom these ambitions do not find expression with established political parties.
Issued by Michael Beaumont, ActionSA National Chairperson, 27 July 2023
