1. Public Funding of Represented Political Parties Act, 103 of 1997
Presentation by Corruption Watch:
Leanne Govindsamy & Modupi Moloto
15 August 2017

2. Roadmap About Corruption Watch Introduction
International, Regional and Local Obligations
Public Funding
Parliament Budget Vote funding
Private, Foreign and Other sources of funding
General issues applicable to all forms of funding
Conclusion

3. About Corruption Watch
Non-profit civil society organisation, accredited Transparency International Chapter in South Africa
Independent, no political or business alignment
Ensuring that corruption is addressed and reduced through the promotion and protection of democracy, rule of law and good governance as well as the achievement of transparency and accountability within private and public institutions

4. Introduction Parliamentary process concerns
Short time periods for submission
A rushed process and insufficient attention to difficult and key policy decisions that will inform detailed legislative amendments
Lack of clarity about the process going forward

5. Introduction Importance of transparency in party funding
Public perception and faith in democratic institutions
“Corruption related to political party financing poses a grave threat to democratic development worldwide. Covert party funding streams, influence peddling, and leveraging state resources for party purposes all compromise the single greatest asset of democracy: the faith and support of ordinary citizens in the political process” Money In Politics, Bryan & Baer (2005)
Prevention of bias / undue influence by donors
Creating a level playing field

6. Introduction
Citizens all over the world want political parties and governments to represent their views and be responsive to their needs. However, all too often parties are disproportionately representative of the interests of the donors who have largely financed them. If large corporations and rich individuals are able to buy greater influence through large campaign donations, then citizens can lose faith in, or be marginalized from, the political process. This is compounded by a lack of citizen participation in political parties, which further adds to people’s alienation from politics.
…Although the funding of electoral campaigns and political parties has an important role in the functioning of democracy, unregulated money in politics means that the political playing field is not level. The explosive growth in campaign expenditures fuels the perception that wealth buys political influence and threatens political equality.
Kofi Annan – Chair of the Global Commissions on
Elections, Democracy and Security

7. International, Regional and National Obligations
United Nations Convention against Corruption, Article 7(3)
Each State party shall also consider adopting appropriate legislative and administrative measures, consistent with the objectives of this Convention and in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, to enhance transparency in the funding of candidatures for elected public office and, where applicable, the funding of political parties
AU Convention against Corruption, Article 10
Each State party shall adopt legislative and other measures to proscribe the use of funds acquired through illegal and corrupt practices to finance politics; and incorporate the principle of transparency into funding of political parties

8. International, Regional and National Obligations
Constitution
Section 1(d) “The Republic of South Africa is one, sovereign, democratic state founded on the following values: Universal adult suffrage, a national common voters roll, regular elections and a multi- party system of democratic government, to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness.
Section 236 “To enhance multi-party democracy, national legislation must provide for the funding of political parties participating in national and provincial legislatures on an equitable and proportional basis

9. OECD Framework on Financing Democracy and Supporting Better Public Policies and Averting Policy Capture
Balanced funding through direct and indirect public contributions
Framing private funding
Applying spending limits
Limited privileged access to state resources
Requiring disclosures
Enabling scrutiny
Applying integrity framework in the public sector
Promoting standards of professionalism, integrity and transparency in private donors
Assuring independent and efficient oversight
Applying dissuasive and enforceable sanctions
Appraising the system
Support to political parties

10. Public Funding Multi-party democracy fund
Disclosure of sources (beneficial owners, no anonymous donations)
Disclosure of expenditure / comprehensive reporting
Enabling scrutiny of timely, reliable, accessible and intelligible reports
Capping of expenditure
Review of allocations (levelling the playing field)
Review of funding for local structures / smaller parties
Public sector integrity and transparency, codes of conduct, conflict of interest and asset disclosure provisions, risk mapping, whistle-blower protection / whistle-blower mechanisms
Appropriate and enforceable sanctions/ capacitated and independent oversight bodies
Consideration of increase to public funding only when private and other funding sources are fully transparent

11. Private, foreign and Other sources of Funding
Banning/regulating certain types of private funding
Foreign interests (ban)
Corporations with government contracts or partial government contracts (ban)
Trade unions, state owned entities (ban)
Investment and other corporate entities owned by political parties (Ban or regulation)
Corporate funding (Regulation and detailed reporting or ban and all corporate funding to be made into Multi-party democracy fund)
In kind donations, use of public resources (Regulated)
No anonymous donations
No direct candidature funding
Disclosure by private donors
Whistle-blower protection / mechanisms

12. Conclusion Impact of lack of transparency Questions …
Loss of voter confidence, leading to voter apathy
Lack of global credibility
State capture / influence of foreign interests
Erosion of the democratic state
Questions …