The National Assembly postponed plugging a hole in party funding legislation by a week. (Jaco Marais/Netwerk24)
- The National Assembly postponed a motion that would plug a hole in party funding legislation with a week for “further consultation”.
- The resolution would empower the president to set regulations for the threshold political parties and independents have to declare donations received.
- After the Electoral Matters Amendment Act came into effect on Wednesday, there are no limits or thresholds in place until the National Assembly adopts a resolution allowing the president to make the regulations.
Political parties can now accept any amount in donations without declaring it for at least a week.
On Thursday morning, the National Assembly decided to let the consideration of a motion to address a gap in party funding legislation stand over until next week, pending further consultations between parties.
The Electoral Matters Amendment Act is supposed to make consequential changes to legislation, including the Political Party Funding Act, to align with the Electoral Amendment Act, which allows independent candidates to contest national and provincial elections. Yet, it also tinkered with party funding legislation beyond what was needed to bring independent candidates into the fold.
President Cyril Ramaphosa assented to the act on Saturday, which took effect on Wednesday. In effect, it scraps the regulations in terms of the Political Party Funding Act that sets a threshold – that all donations of R100 000 or more must be declared – and the current limit – that parties may only receive R15 million from one donor per year.
Last week, at a special meeting of the National Assembly Programming Committee, parliamentary legal advisor Charmaine van der Merwe warned: “There will be a gap in the law once the Electoral Matters Bill has been assented to, because there will not be any upper limits for donations or a disclosure limit until the president makes those regulations. And the president can only make those regulations upon a resolution of the Assembly.”
She added: “At this point in time, with elections ahead of us it is very critical that there not be a situation where the upper limits for donations, for declarations not be known.”
READ | Electoral Matters Amendment Act now in effect, but Parliament should plug funding hole on Thursday
In terms of the Political Party Funding Act, the president must make regulations for the threshold and limit upon a resolution of the National Assembly. Thus, the National Assembly must first pass a resolution before Ramaphosa can make the regulations.
Van der Merwe proposed that such a resolution, which keeps the current threshold and limit in place, be adopted on Thursday. However, opposition parties questioned why the resolution was required when the Electoral Matters Amendment Bill had, at the time, not yet become law, even though the resolution would be made in terms of the Political Party Funding Act. They also wanted clarity on the status of the legislation.
It was decided to postpone the resolution to the final sitting on 16 May.
But then Ramaphosa signed the bill on Saturday and proclaimed that it would be in force from Wednesday onwards.
The motion with the resolution that would empower Ramaphosa to make the regulations on the threshold and the limit appeared on the order paper for Thursday’s sitting, which was sent out on Wednesday evening.
At the start of Thursday’s sitting, an ANC MP, on behalf of her chief whip Pemmy Majodina, moved that the “motion stand over for further consultations” and that it be withdrawn until next week.
Acting Speaker Lechesa Tsenoli said he understood that there were consultations on this and agreed to it.