A comprehensive resource on the private funding of South African political parties

 

Political parties need money to run election campaigns. However, such monies have the power to corrupt and subvert voter interest in favour of powerful interest groups who donate funds with conditions attached.

Transparency in the private funding of political parties is an issue that confronts all modern democracies. It is evident that even where regulation exists, loopholes are found by the corrupt to abuse entrusted power for private benefit.

The lack of regulation of party funding across many countries on the African continent may allow efforts by the wealthy to exert undue influence on a government's policy choices, to go largely undetected. This also holds equally true for South Africa where state funding is adequately regulated while private funding is an activity that happens far from the public eye. The Money in South African Politics web site, a joint ISS - Idasa project, comprises:

• A brief analysis of ‘the problem’ created by the lack of effective regulations of political parties.
• A Party Funding Monitor database that provides policy-makers, researchers, journalists, and political parties with a source of information with which to track the reported sources of private funding of political parties. This research is indicative of funding received by political parties.
• A relevant list of Research and Publications including Independent Electoral Commission reports as well as local and international papers that provide background information for those wishing to explore the policy options available to effectively regulate the private funding of political parties.
• Information about the project partners and the funding of this initiative.
• A list of links to relevant domestic and international websites.

Importantly, this site does not blow the whistle on party funding or expose it, rather it strives to broadly achieve the following:

• Provide the tools for political parties, policy makers and others to develop regulation of the private funding of political parties.
• To assist the media, civil society and the research community with background information on this issue.
• To produce a database that will help keep track of reported instances of private funding of political parties – the first online database of its kind on the African continent.