Electoral Commission appoints new Chief Executive for party funding

1 August 2019

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is pleased to announce the appointment of a new Chief Executive for Party Funding, Mr George Mahlangu, who joins the organisation from 1 August 2019.

Mr Mahlangu is a seasoned financial expert having served as a Chief Financial Officer in the private and public sectors for many years. He previously served as CFO at Gauteng’s Department of Health (2014 – 2017) and Department of Local Government (2006 – 2010) and before that was CFO at the National Youth Commission (2002 – 2006). He joins the IEC from the private sector where he was most recently Chief Executive Officer of a transport company. 

He is qualified with both an LLB and a Bcompt (Honours) which provide him with an ideal blend of legal and financial knowledge to fill this important new role as head of the new party funding unit.

Mr Mahlangu will operate at the level of a Deputy Chief Electoral Officer and report directly to the Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo.

The appointment is a critical step in the on-going preparations by the Electoral Commission to implement the Political Party Funding Act (Act 6 of 2018) as soon as possible.

Over two days the Electoral Commission will hold public hearings into the draft regulations for party funding in Cape Town.

The hearings follow the publication of draft regulations for comment between 1 and 21 March 2019 during which more than 4 300 written submissions were received.

As Chief Executive responsible for party funding, Mr Mahlangu will oversee the management of the Represented Political Parties’ Fund, the establishment or a new Multiparty Democracy Fund and the implementation of a disclosure framework through which political parties and donors must disclose donations above a threshold to the Electoral Commission.

Mr Mahlangu said he was humbled and excited by the challenge of establishing a completely new unit within the Electoral Commission which would oversee compliance with the new legislative and regulatory framework for private and public funding of political parties. “This legislation has been a long time coming and fills a crucial gap in the electoral democracy process by shedding light on the sources and uses of funding by political parties.”

Issued by Kate Bapela on behalf of Independent Electoral Commission, 1 August 2019