ANC, DA want funding Act reviewed

The recently praised Political Party Funding Act has significantly affected the fundraising efforts of political parties, with both the ANC and the DA calling for a review of the new law. A Mail & Guardian report says while the country’s two largest parties seldom agree, both felt the pinch of the new legislation, even though it was enacted but not implemented in time for this election. ‘It has made party funding much more difficult and complex and it is going to be even more so in 2021 when the full regulation will be in force,’ the DA’s Paul Boughey said. ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile said it was a good thing that the regulations had not yet taken effect because this provided an opportunity to ‘review’ the law, with a view to addressing some of the challenges brought about by its enactment. ‘ ... it seems like a lot of obstacles may accompany the implementation of that law,’ he said. 'There are limits (in the law) to how many donations parties can receive in a year. My view is that (during) the sixth Parliament, we should use the opportunity to relook the legislation so that it can allow parties to fundraise and really operate smoothly,’ he said.