Political Party Funding Act: ANC has suffered a financial blow as private donors want to remain discreet

Deputy President Paul Mashatile says the African National Congress (ANC) has suffered a financial blow since political parties have been required to declare their private donors.

This amid reports that the party is once again struggling to pay its staff at its Luthuli House headquarters.

Speaking to the Parliamentary Press Gallery Association on Thursday, Mashatile said the party has appealed to the finance minister to increase state funding to political parties.

In August, the threshold for declaring donations to political parties was increased from R100,000 to R200,000.

In the last quarterly funding report released by the Electoral Commission last week, the ANC didn't declare any cash donations between July and September.

Mashatile said funding has dried up since disclosures became mandatory in 2021.

READ: Funding dries up for political parties

"We've lost a lot of funders as the anc who don’t want to be disclosed for various reasons. People want to donate to parties, but they don’t want to be published that they are donating."

But Mashatile said it's not only the ANC that's battling the effects of the Political Funding Act.

"It's just that the ANC is a big organisation. We have a lot of people working for us throughout the country. So, our salary bill is quite hefty, and as a result, that’s why the treasurer-general is struggling."

Mashatile said to lessen the burden on the party's purse, provinces are being made to pay their own way to gatherings such as the National General Council to be held in Gauteng next week.