Four political parties have declared donations of almost R60m as part of the political party funding declarations for this quarter.
This, according the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC), was the second-highest declared donations since the act was enacted into a law in 2021.
Of this was R22m declared by the DA and R20m by the ANC, while ActionSA and Bosa declared donations of R12m and R2m respectively.
According to the IEC, a big chunk of the DA’s cash donation, about R15m, came from Fynbos Ekwiteit.
The company’s directors are listed as Michiel du Pré le Roux and Johan Petrus du Pré le Roux. The former is a founder of Capitec Bank and in 2016 was listed as the 13th richest man in South Africa and the second richest banking executive.
"In addition to Fynbos Ekwiteit (Pty) Ltd, DA’s two other significant donations were received from an entity called Main Street 1564 at R5m, and an individual known as Mr G Ryan at R2m," said the IEC.
The ANC’s donations came from Batho Batho Trust and Chancellor House at R15m and R5m respectively. Chancellor House is ANC’s investment arm.
ActionSA’s leader Herman Mashaba donated R2m in two tranches of R1.5m and R500,000 to his party in May.
Victoria Freudenheim, granddaughter of Harry and Bridget Oppenheimer, donated R7.2m to Mashaba’s party, while Solomon David Group donated R2m.
Bosa received donations from Rth Investments, Hlumelo Biko and Robert B Hersov of R1m, R200,000 and R100,000 respectively.
"The declared donations amounting to more than R57m during the first quarter of the current financial year is a significant amount when compared with previous quarters. This is the second-largest amount declared, out of nine, since the implementation of the Party Funding Act. The highest was R60.2m declared in the second quarter of the previous financial year," said the IEC.
Only the DA declared foreign donations of just over R200,000 for the quarter.
"Only one foreign donation totalling R221 161.09 was declared. This was a donation received by the DA from one of the party’s regular donors, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF)," said the IEC.
"The FNF’s donation was the only in-kind donation declared during the reporting quarter. The donation was made towards the cost of several training workshops for members of the DA, including the party’s youth and women organisations."
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