Godongwana thinks political parties should be wholly funded from national fiscus

CAPE TOWN - Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is of the view that political parties should be wholly funded from the national fiscus and not have to accept private donations.
 
Speaking to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)'s political funding conference in Durban on Thursday, Godongwana said it's unacceptable that some political parties don't submit annual audited financial statements.
 
Godongwana's own political party, the African National Congress (ANC), was among those fined by the Electoral Court last year for falling foul of the law in this regard.
 
The finance minister questioned whether the IEC was the appropriate body to keep political parties in check over their finances, saying it puts the institution at risk of accusations of bias and a lack of independence.
 
"I'm from the ANC. When they do it to us, we say they’ve been captured. When they do it to another party, they say Ramaphosa has sent them."
 
With a court challenge still pending over plans to double the annual private funding limit to R30 million, while also raising the threshold for declaring donations to R200,000, Godongwana said he hoped the matter was settled before next year's local government elections.
 
He said that the conference should consider the implications of political parties purely being funded by the state.
 
"That raises the question: What is the optimal level of funding and what is the criteria for that? We complain that departments are inefficient. Should we fund political parties for inefficiencies as well?"
 
Godongwana also hinted that if the revenue allowed, more money could be set aside to fund next year's local government election, in addition to the R1.4 billion already allocated in this year's budget.