Legislation: NCOP committee adopts Political Party Funding Bill

The Political Party Funding Bill has been adopted by the NCOP committee concerned without proposed amendments, notes Pam Saxby for Legalbrief Policy Watch. According to a report accompanying the Bill to the House for endorsement, this is noting that ‘most’ of its provisions dealing with ‘the existing represented political party fund’ and the proposed new multi-party democracy fund were drawn from the 1997 Public Funding of Represented Political Parties Act. Having considered issues raised during recent public hearings on the Bill, the committee concluded that – despite some opposition to provisions placing a cap on annual donations from one person or entity, and requiring political parties and donors to disclose all donations above a prescribed threshold to the Independent Electoral Commission – there is nevertheless ‘general acceptance’ of the Bill’s intention to regulate direct private donations to political parties, and to prohibit donations from foreign governments and foreign persons for any purpose other than training and skills or policy development.

Interestingly, some stakeholders questioned the constitutionality of clauses 6, 10 and 12(5), respectively: prescribing the formula to be used in determining the allocation of funds; prohibiting party members from receiving donations other than for party purposes; and giving the Auditor-General discretionary powers to ‘audit any represented political party’s books, records of account and financial statements relating to money allocated to the party from the represented political party fund’. However, having considered each submission concerned, the committee was apparently satisfied that each clause would pass constitutional muster. The report also noted the ‘high expectation that the Bill be finalised by Parliament and enacted into law before the next general elections’.