Detecting Devious Donations

 

Patrick Laurence

 

--- Focus 26, June 2002 published by the Helen Suzman Foundation

Patrick Laurence argues for the development of statutory rules for party funding

The political squabble over whether or not fugitive German financier Jurgen Harksen donated funds to the Democratic Alliance has generated more heat than light. The contentious establishment by Western Cape Premier Peter Marais of a commission with quasi-judicial trappings to investigate the allegations, and thereby advance the cause of the New National Party and its new ally, the African National Congress, at the expense of the DA, has compounded the confusion.

But one point stands out clearly amidst the welter of accusations and counter-accusations: the need to provide clear statutory rules for the donation of funds to political parties. At a minimum all donations above a certain limit should be clearly registered by the different parties and open to inspection in defined circumstances. The exemption of small donations is necessary to avoid administrative overload and to protect ordinary citizens from the prying eyes of bureaucrats. The requirement of registering large donations will make the competing parties more circumspect about accepting money from dubious donors. It should inhibit them from accepting donations from businessmen who face charges of fraud and tax evasion, as Harksen does in Germany , or malevolent foreign dictators without scruples about violating the human rights of their citizens or using money to advance their pernicious influence across the globe.

It would remove the temptation for politicians in office to appoint quasi-judicial commissions for party political purposes, as Marais is accused of having done (and as former President PW Botha did in the 1980s when he appointed a commission to investigate allegations that Barclays Bank had funded an ANC newspaper advertisement). But for the moment South Africa is stuck with the commission headed by Judge Siraj Desai, who is a former ANC branch chairman. For the Desai commission to rebutt DA charges that it is a "kangaroo court" it must investigate whether the ANC or the NNP accepted donations from Harksen. The NNP's history as a component of the DA until late last year, and as the dominant component in the Western Cape where Harksen operated, makes the case for scrutiny of its financial records compelling if there is to be equity in the whole operation.