Letter from MVC lawyers sent to the President demanding explanation of delays and implementation

18 January 2021

For more than half a year, My Votes Counts (MVC) has engaged with the State Legal Advisor to keep track of the process towards the implementation of the Political Party Funding Act (PPFA). When the President signed the PPFA into law in January 2019, no date was gazetted for promulgation. On 21 January 2021, it will be two years to the day since President Ramaphosa signed the PPFA into law. 

MVC previously wrote a letter to the President, endorsed by 20 civil society organsations, on the one year anniversary of the PPFA being assented to, requesting that a date be gazetted for implementation of the Act. This letter was not answered by the President. 

On 21 December 2020, MVC, through our legal representatives Webber Wentzel, wrote a formal letter to the President urgently requesting reasons for the unjustifiable delays in the promulgation and implementation of the PPFA, as well as the Promotion of Access Information Amendment Act. We also asked for an indication of when these laws would come into effect. We are yet to receive a response from the President, and have requested a response by 22 January 2021. Our letter can be read here. 

In this regard, MVC remains hopeful of the news reported last week that the PPFA will be implemented on or before 1 April 2021. This is a crucial step towards transparency in the funding of our politics and will positively strengthen the country’s political accountability and transparency framework. 

As we stress in our letter to the President, “The rights of South African citizens to make political choices and to participate in elections are being infringed by the delay in coming into force of the legislation...There has been an unreasonable delay in implementation of this critical legislation.” It is therefore imperative that both laws are urgently implemented and we need to ensure that the timeline is adhered to and no further delays are permitted. 

Issued by Sheilan Clarke, Communications Officer, 18 January 2021